On 31 August 2026, Lionel Messi announced that he had played his last match for Argentina. He was 39, he had just captained his country to a World Cup final, and he had spent 21 years in the blue and white stripes. What he did not do was retire from football altogether – he is still playing for Inter Miami, and two days before the announcement he scored four goals in a single match.
So this quiz covers the whole story: the farewell to Argentina, the 2026 World Cup final in New Jersey, the MLS Cup that Inter Miami finally won, and the records that started in Rosario nearly forty years ago. Twenty-five questions, four options each, and an answer with an explanation underneath every one.
Answer one question at a time and your score is kept as you go. Prefer to read? The full list of 25 questions, with answers you can reveal one by one, is further down the page.
The eight things people ask most about Messi since his retirement announcement, answered in a sentence or two.
Not from football as a whole. On 31 August 2026 Messi announced his retirement from the Argentina national team, ending 21 years of international duty. He is still playing club football for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer, under a contract that runs to 2028.
Messi scored 125 goals in 207 appearances for Argentina. Both figures are Argentina records, and only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals in men's international football.
No. Argentina reached the final on 19 July 2026 but lost 1-0 to Spain after extra time, with Ferran Torres scoring in the 106th minute at the New York/New Jersey Stadium.
Kylian Mbappe, with 22 goals. Messi held the record for about a month during the 2026 tournament after passing Miroslav Klose, and finished his career on 21 World Cup goals.
Six: 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026. He made a record 34 World Cup appearances and won the tournament once, in Qatar in 2022.
Three trophies since joining in July 2023: the Leagues Cup in 2023, the MLS Supporters' Shield in 2024 and the MLS Cup in 2025.
Eight, which is a record. He won in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
At Nu Stadium at Miami Freedom Park, a 26,700-seat ground that opened on 4 April 2026 with a match against Austin FC. Before that the club played at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
| Appearances | 207 (an Argentina record) |
|---|---|
| Goals | 125 (an Argentina record) |
| World Cups played | 6 (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026) |
| World Cup appearances | 34, more than any other player |
| World Cup goals | 21, second only to Kylian Mbappe's 22 |
| Major titles | World Cup 2022, Copa America 2021 and 2024, Finalissima 2022 |
| Retired from Argentina | 31 August 2026, aged 39 |
Eight questions on Messi's last chapter in the blue and white stripes.
On what date did Lionel Messi announce his retirement from the Argentina national team?
Answer: 31 August 2026. Messi announced the decision in a handwritten note posted on Instagram at the age of 39, ending 21 years with the national team. He revealed that he had actually written the letter on 21 July, two days after the World Cup final.
Which country beat Argentina in the 2026 World Cup final?
Answer: Spain. It was Spain's second World Cup title, 16 years after their first in 2010, and they became the first nation to hold the men's and women's World Cup titles at the same time.
What was the score in the 2026 World Cup final?
Answer: 1-0 to Spain after extra time. Spain had 20 shots to Argentina's 2, and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made 11 saves, a record for a World Cup final.
Who scored the only goal of the 2026 World Cup final?
Answer: Ferran Torres, in the 106th minute. He struck seconds after the start of the second half of extra time, and it was his only goal of the whole tournament.
How many times did Messi play for the Argentina senior team?
Answer: 207 appearances, an Argentina record. His first cap came in 2005 and his last was the 2026 World Cup final.
How many goals did Messi score for Argentina?
Answer: 125 goals, another Argentina record. In men's international football only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more.
How many World Cup tournaments did Lionel Messi play in?
Answer: Six: 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026. He made 34 World Cup appearances in total, more than any other player.
Messi briefly became the all-time top scorer in men's World Cup history in 2026. Who ended the tournament holding that record?
Answer: Kylian Mbappe, with 22 goals. Messi passed Miroslav Klose's old mark of 16 when he scored against Austria on 22 June 2026, and finished on 21. Mbappe also won the 2026 Golden Boot with 10 goals to Messi's 8.
Nine questions on the American chapter that is still being written.
When did Lionel Messi join Inter Miami?
Answer: July 2023. He arrived from Paris Saint-Germain and won the Leagues Cup with Inter Miami in his very first months at the club.
Which trophy did Inter Miami win in December 2025?
Answer: The MLS Cup, the biggest prize in Major League Soccer. It was the club's first MLS Cup, won in only its sixth season.
Who did Inter Miami beat in the MLS Cup 2025 final?
Answer: Vancouver Whitecaps, 3-1 at Chase Stadium on 6 December 2025. The Whitecaps side included German great Thomas Muller.
What did Messi do in the MLS Cup 2025 final?
Answer: He set up both of the late goals, assisting Rodrigo De Paul in the 71st minute and Tadeo Allende in the 96th, and was named the final's Most Valuable Player.
How many goals did Messi score to win the 2025 MLS Golden Boot?
Answer: 29 goals, along with 19 assists, in the regular season. He also set a single-postseason record with 15 goal contributions, made up of 6 goals and 9 assists.
In which seasons was Messi named the Most Valuable Player of Major League Soccer?
Answer: 2024 and 2025, making him the first player to win the award in back-to-back seasons.
What is the name of Inter Miami's new home ground, opened in April 2026?
Answer: Nu Stadium at Miami Freedom Park. The 26,700-seat ground opened on 4 April 2026 with a match against Austin FC, and one part of the east stand is named the Leo Messi Stand.
On 29 August 2026 Messi scored how many goals in Inter Miami's club-record 7-1 win over CF Montreal?
Answer: Four, and he added an assist as well. Two of the goals came from free kicks, a reminder that at 39 he is still one of the best dead-ball takers in the game.
Messi is the all-time leading scorer of which North American competition, with 14 goals?
Answer: The Leagues Cup, the tournament played between clubs from Major League Soccer and Mexico's Liga MX since 2023.
Eight questions that stretch from Rosario to the record books.
Where and when was Lionel Messi born?
Answer: Rosario, Argentina, on 24 June 1987. He joined the youth team of his local club Newell's Old Boys before moving to Barcelona as a boy.
How many Ballon d'Or awards has Messi won?
Answer: Eight, more than any other player. He won it in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
With which club did Messi win all four of his Champions League titles?
Answer: Barcelona, in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015. The 2009 side won the treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League in one season.
How many goals did Messi score for Barcelona?
Answer: 672 goals in 778 matches between 2004 and 2021, which makes him Barcelona's all-time leading scorer by a huge distance.
Which two Copa America titles did Messi win with Argentina?
Answer: 2021 and 2024. The 2021 win ended a 28-year wait for a senior trophy for Argentina and came a year before the World Cup triumph in Qatar.
What happened on Messi's senior debut for Argentina against Hungary in 2005?
Answer: He was sent off. Messi came on as a substitute as an 18-year-old and was shown a red card within moments of entering the pitch.
As a boy in Rosario, Messi received treatment for which condition?
Answer: A growth hormone deficiency. Barcelona agreed to pay for his treatment when he moved to Spain at the age of 13, which is how his career in Europe began.
Messi has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. What does the acronym UNICEF originally stand for?
Answer: United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. The organisation is known today simply as the United Nations Children's Fund, but it kept the original short name.
If you enjoyed this one, try the rest of the collection: the quiz on famous footballers covers the other greats of the game, and the wider quiz for kids section has rounds on space, animals, biology and mathematics.
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