Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from international football, and Ghanaian and African football fans who have followed his two decades in the Albiceleste shirt are waking up to the news today.

Before he walks away for good, here is the complete list of records he broke, set, or still holds as an Argentina player.

Messi surpassed Gabriel Batistuta’s long-standing Argentina scoring record of 54 goals in 2016 and never looked back. He retires with 125 international goals, the most by any player to wear the Argentina shirt.

Messi overtook Javier Mascherano’s Argentina appearance record of 147 caps back in 2021. He finishes his international career with 207 appearances, also the most by any Argentina player in history.

Beyond goals, Messi is Argentina’s leading creator too, setting up goals for teammates than any other player in national team history.

Messi played at six World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026), a feat matched only by Cristiano Ronaldo among men’s players.

Messi broke Lothar Matthäus’s long-standing record of 25 World Cup appearances during the 2022 tournament and kept extending it through 2026, finishing with World Cup matches played than anyone in the competition’s history.

Leading Argentina across five World Cups as captain, Messi set the record for the most World Cup matches captained by any player, well clear of Rafa Márquez and Diego Maradona.

Messi broke Paolo Maldini’s World Cup minutes record (2,217) during the 2022 final and padded the total further in 2026 to finish with time on the pitch at World Cups than any player ever.

Messi briefly held the outright World Cup scoring record after passing Miroslav Klose’s 16 goals in 2026, before Kylian Mbappé edged ahead late in the tournament to finish on 22. Messi ends his career second on the all-time list with 21.

Even without the outright global record, Messi is comfortably Argentina’s own all-time leading World Cup scorer, clear of Batistuta and Maradona.

Messi won the World Cup’s Golden Ball award for the tournament’s best player in both 2014 and 2022, a feat no other player has managed twice.

Messi scored in nine consecutive World Cup matches between December 2022 and July 2026, breaking a record previously shared by France’s Just Fontaine and Brazil’s Jairzinho.

Messi scored at the World Cup as a teenager in 2006, then across his twenties and thirties, a unique span in the tournament’s history.

Messi’s hat-trick against Algeria in the 2026 World Cup, scored at 38 years and 357 days old, made him the oldest player ever to score a World Cup treble, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo’s previous mark.

Messi passed Chilean goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone’s Copa América appearance record in 2024, becoming the most-capped player in the tournament’s history.

Messi also holds the outright Copa América assists record, ahead of every player to have featured in the tournament since it began in 1916.

Messi led Argentina to Copa América glory in both 2021 and 2024, becoming the first Argentina captain to win the tournament in consecutive editions.

Argentina’s 2021 Copa América win under Messi’s captaincy was the country’s first major trophy since 1993, snapping a 28-year wait that had defined much of his career before that point.

At the 2026 World Cup alone, Messi racked up 33 combined goals and assists in 34 matches, the most by any player at a single edition of the tournament since records in this form began being tracked in 1966.

His 10 knockout-stage assists at the 2026 World Cup are also a modern-era record for the tournament.

Messi finally lifted the World Cup in 2022, beating France on penalties after a 3-3 draw, ending Argentina’s 36-year wait for the trophy and completing the one honour that had eluded him for most of his career.

Messi retires from international duty with 207 caps, 125 goals, two Copa Américas, one World Cup, two World Cup Golden Balls, and a record book that may never be matched. He continues to play club football for Inter Miami, where his contract runs through 2028.