Lionel Messi, considered the “greatest of all time” and a living legend, scored his 800th career goal for club and country in Argentina’s friendly match against Panama in Buenos Aires on Thursday. The Argentine superstar curled the ball past the Panama goalkeeper in the 89th minute to hit the 800 goal mark, sending the sold-out crowd at Monumental Stadium into a frenzy.
Messi’s 800th goal comes shortly after he was named Best FIFA Men’s Player, having led Argentina to victory in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He celebrated his 700th career club goal just last month. The win over Panama was Argentina’s first match since beating France in Qatar last December, and the team was cheered on by home supporters, with Thiago Almada opening the scoring in the second half before Messi added his historic goal.
Messi, who spent the first 17 years of his senior career with Barcelona, where he scored a club-record 672 goals in 778 appearances, joined PSG in the summer of 2021 and has since scored 30 goals for the French champions. He has scored a further 98 goals for Argentina, including seven goals in Qatar, where he lifted the World Cup for the first time. Messi has been named FIFA’s best men’s player a record seven times.