Career highlights

Led Argentina to the title at the 2005 World Youth Championship, scoring two penalties in a 2-1 victory over Nigeria in the final

Made his debut for the senior side in a friendly against Hungary in August 2005 but was sent off less than a minute after coming on as a substitute

Played only a bit-part role at the 2006 World Cup. Argentina were knocked out in the quarter-finals by hosts Germany after a penalty shootout

Led Argentina to the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

The Barcelona star won a record fifth FIFA Ballon d'Or award for the world's best player at a ceremony in Zurich on January 11

Part of the Argentina side coached by Diego Maradona at the 2010 World Cup that was beaten 4-0 by Germany in the quarterfinals

Messi failed to score and struggled to find his best form at the tournament in South Africa

After a season disrupted by injury, captained Argentina to the final of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where they lost 1-0 to Germany

Played his second Copa America final for Argentina in Chile in 2015, losing the final on penalties to the host nation

Members of his family were attacked by Chile fans

Scored a hat trick in 18 minutes after coming off the bench in Argentina's 5-0 win over Panama in the 2016 Centenary Copa America in Chicago.

Set a record of 55 goals for Argentina when he scored in the 4-0 win over the United States in the semi-finals.

He was on the losing side again after a penalty shootout defeat by Chile in the centenary final in 2016 and announced his retirement.