Lionel Messi completes 900 goals, joins Cristiano Ronaldo: Key stats
What's the story
Football legend Lionel Messi has become only the second player to complete 900 goals in official football matches. The Argentine superstar achieved the milestone during Inter Miami's Concacaf Champions Cup second-leg clash against Nashville SC on Wednesday. However, despite his historic strike, Miami were knocked out of the tournament after a 1-1 draw on aggregate and the away goal rule.
Match highlights
Messi's goal not enough for Miami
Messi, who had missed two previous opportunities to score his 900th goal, made no mistake this time. Receiving a pass in the box, Messi found the net to give Miami an early lead in the match. However, Nashville's Cristian Espinoza equalized midway through the second half with an impeccable and powerful strike in the net's right corner.
Historic achievement
Messi joins Ronaldo on this list
With his goal on Wednesday, Messi joined Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players to score 900 career goals. Ronaldo, who reached the milestone in September 2024, tops this tally with 965 goals. According to ESPN, Messi is the fastest among the two to reach the landmark (1,142 games). Meanwhile, Ronaldo achieved it in 1,236 matches. Among active players, Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski trails Messi and Ronaldo with 690 goals.
Goal distribution
Breakdown of Messi's goals
Most of Messi's career goals have come during his illustrious run at Barcelona, where he scored 672 goals. He also scored 81 goals at Inter Miami and 32 at Paris Saint-Germain. Internationally, the reigning World Cup champion has netted 115 times for Argentina. The most fruitful year of Messi's career was 2012, when he scored a combined 91 goals for club and country.
Records
Other notable records of Messi
Messi is an eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, topping this list. His 91 goals from 2012 are the most scored by a player in a calendar year. He netted 79 times for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina. Messi is also the fastest player to reach 100 goals in the Champions League (123 games). He also owns the most goals as a captain in a FIFA World Cup (7 in 2022).