The records held by Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi continues to make history with gigantic strides. His goal against the United Stated in the semi-final of the Copa America, a fantastic free-kick, saw him overtake Gabriel Batistuta’s 54 Argentina goals to become his country’s top goalscorer with 55.
It’s an honour to add to the records the Barcelona man already owns:
TOP SCORER IN LA LIGA: 312 GOALS
Messi has scored 312 goals in Spain’s top flight. He overtook the previous record of 253, set by Athletic’s Zarra, back in November 2014.
PLAYER TO HAVE SCORED IN MOST PRIMERA GAMES: 194
The Argentine has scored in 194 La Liga games, beating the record of 186 which was set by former Real Madrid striker Raul.
TOP SCORER IN ONE CALENDAR YEAR: 91
Messi broke Gerd Muller’s historic record on December 9, 2012 when he scored a brace in a win over Real Betis. The former Bayern Munich player had scored 85 goals in 1972, but Messi beat that with 91 in 2012.
TOP SCORER IN A SINGLE SEASON: 73
He once again beat a Muller record when he scored a hat-trick in a win over Malaga, eventually going onto end the 2011-12 campaign with 73 goals - the German had managed 67 in 1972-73.
RECORD GOALS IN GOLDEN SHOE: 50
The 28-year-old broke the Romanian Georgescu’s record in 2011-12 when he ended the league campaign with 50 goals. Georgescu’s record of 47 had stood since 1976-77.
BARCELONA’S TOP SCORER IN OFFICIAL MATCHES: 453
By some way, Messi is already the top scorer in official matches for Barcelona. At the moment he has 453, a long way ahead of the 232 scored by the legendary Cesar Rodriguez.
BARCELONA’S TOP SCORER IN OFFICIAL MATCHES & FRIENDLIES: 482
In a Barça shirt, Messi has scored 482 goals (453 in official games and 29 in friendlies). That’s left Paulino Alcantara behind, who managed 395 (number provided by the Great Dictionary of Barcelona Players).
TOP SCORER IN EL CLASICO: 21
The Blaugrana forward has scored more goals than any other player in the history of the Clasico. He moved ahead of Alfredo di Stefano, who scored 18 times in matches between Barça and Real Madrid (in all competitions).
TOP SCORER IN THE BARCELONA DERBY: 14
Messi is also the player with the most goals in the Catalan derby. The Argentine has notched 15 goals in games between Barça and Espanyol - Cesar Rodriguez managed 12.
TITLES WITH BARCELONA: 28
Messi and Andres Iniesta overtook Xavi Hernandez (25) as the Barça players with the most titles in the club’s history when they won the Club World Cup in December, 2015. They’ve since won two more trophies, too.
BALLON D’OR WINS: 5
After being named the world’s best player in January, Messi has now won the Ballon d’Or on five occasions. He’s two clear of Marco van Basten, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have all won three.
