Lionel Messi is never far from breaking a new record or passing his next landmark, and he has hit yet another massive milestone in his incredible career: his 900th goal.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner entered 2026 on 896 goals in his senior career for Argentina, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and current club Inter Miami following his final match of the campaign: Miami’s MLS Cup triumph over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Dec. 5.
Having already netted three more goals this year before Miami hosted Nashville for the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup round-of-16 tie, Messi’s goal in the seventh minute of Wednesday’s match took his official tally to 900.
Right now, Messi’s longtime rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, is the only other active player to have scored over 900 professional career goals, having achieved the feat in September 2024. Given that the active player with the next-highest goal total is Robert Lewandowski, with 747, it might be some while before the twin titans of modern football are joined in the 900 club by anyone else.
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Messi’s goal-scoring odyssey began way back in May 2005, when the teenage sensation emerged from the bench for the final two minutes of Barcelona’s league game against Albacete and capped off a 2-0 victory with his first goal in professional football.
Even though expectations were high for Messi all the way through his development, no one could have predicted the incredible level of success that would follow that first goal at Camp Nou. Yet here we all are 21 years later, with Messi still scoring goals at such a rate that there is no telling how much more he could achieve.
Much has rightly been made about Ronaldo’s quest to reach an undisputed career tally of 1,000 goals, with the 41-year-old now within 40 strikes of that total. But as Messi hits goal No. 900, could he also have that four-figure total in his sights? And, being almost 2½ years younger than Ronaldo, could he yet retire with more goals to his name than the Portugal superstar?
