After being called up to the senior team, Messi made his first appearance in an official match on October 16, 2004, against Espanyol in La Liga, coming on in the 82' minute.
Messi scored his first goal on May 1, 2005, against Albacete, assisted by Ronaldinho, becoming the youngest ever goalscorer for the club at that time.
Messi led Argentina to trophy in the 2005 FIFA Youth Championship. Before the final, Messi was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.
He scored twice in the final against Nigeria (2-1) winning the championship for Argentina and finishing the tournament as the top scorer with 6 goals.
Messi made his first-team international debut in August 2005, during a friendly game against Hungary. Messi was sent off just one minute after he entered the field. There are still debates on whether he actually deserved the red card.
Messi ended the season as the top scorer in Spain and Europe with 50 goals, a record in La Liga, while his 73 goals in all competitions surpassed 67 goals from Gerd Muller in the 1972-73 Bundesliga season, making Messi the best scorer in European football history in a single season.
At the end of the year, Messi had a record of 91 goals in all competitions with Barcelona and Argentina, surpassing Gerd Muller's 85 goals in 1972 for Bayern Munich and Germany.
On March 16 in the 7-0 win over Osasuna for the league, Messi scored a hat-trick and reached a total of 371 goals in all competitions (including friendlies) with Barcelona, surpassing the record of 369 goals Paulino Alcantara held for many years.
Alcantara played with Barcelona between 1912-1927 scoring 142 goals in official and 227 in friendly games.
Messi broke the record by scoring 344 in official games and 27 in friendlies.
Substitute Mario Götze scored in the 113th minute and Germany won the game 1-0 to win the Fifa World Cup. At the conclusion of the final, Messi was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.
At Copa America 2016, in the quarter-final against Venezuela, Messi performed another great performance by assisting two goals and scoring another in a 4-1 victory, which made it equal to the 54-goal record held by Gabriel Batistuta.
That record was broken three days later, when Messi scored a free-kick in a 4-0 win against USA in semifinals.
On April 23, Messi scored twice in a 3-2 win over Real Madrid in Santiago Bernabeu. The goal he scored in overtime and gave Barcelona the win was the 500th goal with Barcelona in all competitions, celebrating it in a special way by showing the jersey to the fans of the stadium.
Lionel Messi broke the Brazilian legend's goal record, scoring his 644th goal in all competitions for Barcelona, making him the top scorer with a single club.
Pele scored 643 with Santos in his native country, a record that stood for 46 years until Messi broke it in the 0-3 victory over Real Valladolid.
Leo Messi - History Of A Legend
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