Lionel Messi scored his 800th career goal with a fine free-kick for Argentina against Panama and we’ve dived into the stats to break down this incredible record.
His strike against Panama was the 99th goal he has scored for Argentina and he will now be eyeing up a century of goals for his country.
The 35-year-old has been in fine goalscoring form all season as he has now scored 31 goals in 2022-23 for club and country. Even in the twilight of his career, he so often produces moments of magic.
After lifting the World Cup at the end of last year, Messi has now won pretty much everything on offer. He has 42 trophies to his name throughout his illustrious career and there could still be more on the way.
His latest milestone of 800 goals reminded us all of his genius and we’ve broken down the numbers behind this astonishing record.
Overall
Games: 1017
Goals: 800
Goals per game: 0.79
Hat-tricks: 56
Four in a game: 6
Five in a game: 2
Penalties (missed): 108 (31)
Assists: 353
Season by season breakdown
2004-05: 1 goal in 9 appearances
2005-06: 10 goals in 35 appearances
2006-07: 21 goals in 46 appearances
2007-08: 19 goals in 50 appearances
2008-09: 41 goals in 60 appearances
2009-10: 48 goals in 64 appearances
2010-11: 57 goals in 66 appearances
2011-12: 82 goals in 69 appearances
2012-13: 69 goals in 62 appearances
2013-14: 48 goals in 57 appearances
2014-15: 62 goals in 67 appearances
2015-16: 50 goals in 59 appearances
2016-17: 57 goals in 57 appearances
2017-18: 52 goals in 64 appearances
2018-19: 54 goals in 58 appearances
2019-20: 33 goals in 46 appearances
2020-21: 44 goals in 60 appearances
2021-22: 21 goals in 45 appearances
2022-23: 31 goals in 43 appearances
Competitions
League: 485 goals
Barcelona: 672 (778 appearances)
PSG: 29 (66 appearances)
Champions League: 129 goals
Barcelona: 120 (149 appearances)
PSG: 9 (14 appearances)
Domestic cups: 56 goals
Copa del Ray: 56 (80 appearances)
Coupe de France: 0 (2 appearances)
Other club competitions: 23 goals
Club World Cup: 5 (5 appearances)
UEFA Super Cup: 3 (4 appearances)
Domestic ‘Super Cups’: 15 (21 appearances)
International: 99 goals
World Cup finals: 13
World Cup qualifying: 28
Copa America: 13
Friendlies: 45
Century goal milestones
1st goal v Albacete Balompie (May 1, 2005)
9th match
100th goal v Dynamo Kyiv (September 29, 2009)
210th match
200th goal v Real Madrid (August 17, 2011)
332nd match
300th goal v Rayo Vallecano (October 27, 2012)
418th match
400th goal v Granada (September 27, 2014)
525th match
500th goal v Valencia (April 17, 2016)
632nd match
600th goal v Atletico Madrid (March 4, 2018)
747th match
700th goal v Atletico Madrid (June 30, 2020)
862nd match
800th goal v Panama (March 23, 2023)
1017th match
Top 10 club opponents scored against – No. of goals
Thirty-eight goals: Sevilla
Thirty-two goals: Atletico Madrid
Thirty-one goals: Valencia
Twenty-nine goals: Athletic Bilbao
Twenty-six goals: Real Betis, Real Madrid
Twenty-five goals: Osasuna, Espanyol
Twenty-four goals: Levante
Twenty-one goals: Getafe
How Messi has scored
Left foot: 670 (83.75%)
Right foot: 101 (12.63%)
Head: 26 (3.25%)
Other (Arm, midriff): 3 (0.38%)
Open play: 630 (78.75%)
Free kicks: 62 (7.75%)
Penalties: 108 (13.5%)
Home: 438 (54.75%)
Away: 294 (36.75%)
Neutral: 68 (8.5%)