Lionel Messi on Monday announced his retirement from international football, bringing an end to a glorious career with Argentina which spanned over 2 decades from 2005 to 2026. In that span, the Argentinian has won a World Cup, two Copa America trophies and one Olympic gold medal in 2008 among other plaudits.

Messi has also won a record 8 Ballon d’Ors and recently guided Argentina to the runners-up place in the 2026 World Cup. He has scored 125 goals and provided 68 assists for the La Albiceleste in 207 appearances.

Here’s a throwback to the Argentine magician’s best 5 matches for his national team

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1. The 2022 World Cup final vs France

The 2022 World Cup final match against France was the culmination of Messi’s journey as a top-level player where his chase for the holy grail ended. The legendary player had completed football and won the only trophy missing from his overflowing trophy cabinet when Argentina defeated France via penalty shootout. After the heartbreak of the 2014 final where they had lost to Germany, the night in Qatar will forever be etched in history and will be remembered by everyone worldwide as the night when Messi finally became immortal in national colours.

Messi scored 2 goals in the final and 7 goals in total in that World Cup and was adjudged the best player of the tournament. In the match, dubbed as the greatest final in the history of the World Cup, Messi and Kylian Mbappe both scored in Extra Time, the former in the 108th minute and the latter in the 118th minute, as France completed another comeback to tie the match 3-3 as the game went to penalties. France had come back from the dead after Mbappe scored twice, once from a penalty and once from open play as the Les Blues held Argentina 2-2 at the end of regulation time. Before the Mbappe masterclass in the 2nd half, Messi and Angel Di Maria had opened the scoring for Argentina.

2. The 2021 Copa America quarterfinal vs Ecuador

This quarterfinal match against Ecuador in 2021 was a masterclass in attacking play led by one of the greatest player ever to lace up a pair of football boots. It also signaled the eventual crowning of Argentina as the Copa champions and handed Messi his first ever international trophy after they defeated Brazil 1-0 in the final.

In the 40th minute and the 84th minute against Ecuador, Messi provided two assists to Rodrigo de Paul and Lautaro Martinez who made no mistakes in finding the net. In added time, Messi would himself step up and curl in a vintage sensational free kick from the edge of the box to give Argentina a 3-0 victory.

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3. The comeback vs England in 2026 World Cup semifinals

The most recent example in this list which might eventually earn its place in history as one of the greatest comebacks in the World Cup. And the man from Rosario was at the centre of it all. England were riding high after an Anthony Gordon goal in the 55th minute and looked set to reach their first World Cup final since 1966.

But cometh the hour and cometh the man. England coach Thomas Tuchel made the cardinal sin of trying to sit back and protect the flimsy one goal lead so he rung in defensive changes. It might have worked against any other team but they were facing a unit which had Messi in their ranks. And just like Egypt had found out the hard way in the Round of 16, England absolutely crumbled before Messi. After assisting Enzo Fernandez for the equalizer in the 85th minute, Messi once again turned provider as his cross towards the far post found Lautaro’s head and broke England’s hearts and resolve. It was another great escape and it was all credit the Argentine captain.

4. The first ever World Cup hattrick in 2026

Messi started Argentina’s journey in the 2026 World Cup with a bang, scoring a hattrick in the first match against Algeria. Playing in his record 6th World Cup campaign, Messi’s hattrick helped Argentina thrash their les-decorated opponents 3-0.

Messi’s first goal came in the 17th minute, curling a left-footed shot past Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane (the son of French legend Zinedine Zidane) from open play outside the box. The second goal came in a canter, after a teammate took a shot at goal, Zidane could not collect it and ended up sending it back into to play where Messi was at hand to seal the goal with a tap in. Messi netted a record hat-trick in the 76th minute, where he clinically finished off some good build up play from his teammates.

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With the hattrick, Messi edged out his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo to become the oldest man to net a World Cup hat-trick. Ronaldo acheived the feat in 2018 at 33 years old.

5. Becoming the highest scorer in World Cup history

Messi was the first player to break the longstanding record held by Germany’s Miroslav Klose as the highest ever goal scorer in FIFA World Cup history with his 38th minute strike in the 2026 World Cup group stage match against Austria. Messi scored a brace in that match and eventually ended the tournament with 21 goals. He, however, could not hold onto the record for long as France’s Mbappe eclipsed him in the same tournament, ending the tournament with 22 World Cup goals. At 27, the French forward is just entering his prime and will likely play the next two World Cups, giving him the opportunity to add more goals to his record.