The 15 international teams Lionel Messi has failed to score against for Argentina

Open menu

OneFootball's home page

Settings

Planet Football

14 July 2026

Lionel Messi

is quite good at scoring goals, if you didn’t already know. For both club and country, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has proven consistently lethal in the final third.

Everybody knows all about his superhuman exploits at club level, but his achievements for

Argentina

have long gone under the radar and even now are overlooked due to the fact he finished the story and lifted the

World Cup

in 2022.

With 125 goals from 205 caps and counting, very few countries have been able to stop Messi when he comes up against them. As of right now, there are 15 nations who he’s been unable to score against; read on to find out who.

For context, we’ve only considered nations who Messi has actually played a game against, so don’t come at us telling us about how ‘Pessi’ is a fraud because he’s not tucked one away against Kiribati or the Principality of Sealand.

Messi’s senior international debut against Hungary in 2005 remains a memorable one, but for the wrong reasons.

He was sent off just 30 seconds into his debut, retaliating after a heavy challenge and receiving a straight red card for his troubles. He’s not been able to avenge it since.

Having played Qatar at both ends of his international career, Messi has been on the winning side twice, but never managed to bag against the nation.

He managed an assist in a friendly win in 2005 and captained La Albiceleste to a 2-0 win over Qatar in 2019 at the Copa America (no, really) but didn’t manage a goal in either game.

Not only has Messi failed to score against Norway, he’s never actually beaten them at all.

It’s not often that

and South Korea butt heads. They’ve only ever actually crossed paths on three occasions in their history and the only game Messi was a part of was at the 2010

He played 90 minutes as La Albiceleste ran out comfortable 4-1 winners, but was unable to weigh in with a goal of his own.

Argentina have played against Greece even fewer times. The two occasions where the two nations have faced off have both been at the

, with

winning 4-0 in 1994 and 2-0 in 2010, where Messi played and wore the captain’s armband.

The last time

faced the Republic of Ireland and the only time they have in the 21st Century was in an international friendly following the 2010

Messi played, but it was a goal from Angel Di Maria that secured the win.

Rather bizarrely considering their close proximity,

and Costa Rica don’t do battle all that often. They’ve clashed four times since 2010 with

winning every single game.

Messi, however, has only featured in one of those games, a group stage game at the 2011 Copa America where he provided two assists, but didn’t manage to score.

Again not a country

meet often on the football stage, Messi’s one and only game against Sweden ended in victory – just about – but he was unable to find a goal.

Argentina beat them 3-2 in a friendly in 2013 at the Friends Arena, thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and an own-goal from Mikael Lustig.

The Soca Warriors were comfortably beaten in a pre-2014

friendly by

with Messi registering an assist and captaining the side.

Again, given their relatively close proximity, it’s a surprise to learn they’ve only played each other once.

The two countries have only clashed once in the 21st Century, butting heads at the 2014

, both desperate to live up to endless expectations and win football’s most illustrious prize. And both failed to do so.

Oh well. Higuain’s goal separated the two sides on the day, as

sent Belgium’s Golden Generation crashing out of Brazil and back to Europe.

Another one and done – we did warn you – Messi was captain as

travelled to Moscow in November 2017 and beat Russia narrowly.

Aguero’s header four minutes from full-time was the only goal that separated the two sides.

Not a loss, but a draw. And an avoidable one at that.

Messi missed a penalty as

slumped to a draw and failed to win their opening match at the 2018

, the first time they’d done so since losing to Cameroon in 1990.

Interestingly, the penalty that Messi saw saved just eight minutes into the game was also the first one he’d taken at a

– excluding shootouts.

He also faced the Icelandics in a pre-2026

friendly, but only contributed one assist. Fraud.

Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez were on the scoresheet in Qatar as La Albiceleste booked their spot in the last 16 of the 2022

, after overcoming a shaky start to their group-stage campaign against Saudi Arabia.

Messi failed to score, but considering how the rest of the tournament panned out, we don’t think he’s dwelling on this one all too much.

Argentina prepared for their

defence with a series of untaxing friendlies, including the 6-0 thrashing of Puerto Rico in November 2025.

Messi didn’t score, but provided two assists.

Another pre-World Cup confidence booster for

in a hastily arranged fixture after the cancellation of March’s Finalissima.

Messi only played 45 minutes of this 2-1 victory, still managing to make the careers of his Mauritanian opponents complete.

England f***ed by the World Cup schedule even if they beat Messi’s Argentina…

Football365

Legendary no.10s: Messi gifts Baggio Argentina shirt after World Cup quarter-final

Football Italia

Lionel Messi Gets 7/10 | Argentina Players Rated After Their Win Vs Switzerland In The FIFA World Cup 2026

The 4th Official

Lionel Messi, Argentina march on to World Cup semifinals

Major League Soccer

Argentina v Switzerland LIVE: Lionel Messi set for World Cup semi-final against England after Breel Embolo red card controversy

The Independent

Predicting which clubs the summer's biggest free agents will sign for

There are still some massive names who are set to become free agents in the summer, with some high-profile deals due to expire at the end of next month.As speculation...

Tottenham: Why James Maddison was not awarded a penalty against Leeds as Premier League issue statement

Spurs midfielder denied a big moment on his return from injuryThe Premier League has explained why Tottenham were not awarded a penalty in their draw against Leeds.As the clock ticked...

Bento's howler delays CR7's first title in Saudi Arabia 😱

An ugly mistake by Brazilian goalkeeper Bento prevented Al-Nassr from winning the Saudi League title this Tuesday.Cristiano Ronaldo’s team was leading 1-0 until the 53rd minute of the second half,...