Lionel Messi makes his Argentina bow with a goal and two assists - what was his best performance on the international stage?

Platini out Best in

The absolute GOAT, too many to pick from. That World Cup semi vs Croatia, & the final stand out

The WC final 2022, amazingly wasn't even the best player on the pitch though 😂

2022 final. But we could talk here all day about others… 🐐

Obviously the 2022 final. It was like watching two people battle over who the main character was. Incredible.

200+ caps, how?😭his longevity at this level is insane. Probably doesn’t get mentioned enough!

I think it has to be the World Cup final in 2022… but that entire run was incredible

Has to be 2022 final

Mex70 i loved Pele. For me he was the GOAT. There were better plyrs Maradonna but2b GOAT u have 2 wear it well & despite some offfield trouble he never brought shame on the game.then Mesi arrv. Brill plyr, rite attitude, amazing back story. There is no debate Messi pants Ronaldo every time. Best Intl game WCF v France 2022. Led from the front.

In terms of results, I would agree that the World Cup final was his most significant display but from an individual performance point of view, it’s hard to argue against the 3-1 win over Ecaudor in 2017. Argentina were down 1-0 in the first minute and World Cup qualification was on the line. Messi dragged his team through with a hat-trick

What a career! 🐐👏 That 2022 World Cup Performance from him was outstanding.

I’m gonna say the semi final vs Croatia in 2022. Gvardiol was immense in that tournament yet Messi tore him to shreds

People don’t talk about it nearly as much, but his hattrick against Ecuador to clinch a 2018 WC spot is an all time great Messi performance. He stepped up in a way people thought wasn’t possible for Argentina just months after his first retirement

Netherlands in the QF in 2022 was unreal but I suppose it has to be the 2022 final. 🐐

Messi’s 2022 World Cup final will always be iconic, but his late game heroics in the 2026 World Cup!🔥🔥

Watching Messi and Mbappe both at their best in the 2022 WC final was just incredible. Easily my favourite game in recent memory

Everyone talks about the 2022 World Cup final and rightly so, but he was insane in the semis against Croatia too. Gvardiol must still be having nightmares

Truly poetic how Messi bowed out of Argentina, while someone else published a thesis on you know what!

Always remember how influential Messi was at the 2010 World Cup, especially against Nigeria

2022 World Cup Final nailed on. Was superb in that match.

That Argentina side in 2022 had no right to win the World Cup, if it wasn’t for Lionel Messi being incredible, they wouldn’t have

I actually can’t think of him in terms of an individual showing for Argentina cos honestly, I don’t think he’s ever been as good for them as he is at club level. But….you’d probably say 2022 they get nowhere near winning without him do they? So that would be the standout. He was actually outshone by Mbappe in the final that year too.

So many to chose from! He was outstanding in the 2022 final… and ultimately that was the one that counted most 🐐

Yeah - the World Cup Final 2022 has to be the pinnacle - in fact, he dragged the Argentina team through the whole tournament to win the trophy.

There’s a lot but that 2022 World Cup final will live in the memory. Buried a lot of demons and it was the moment he cemented himself as the greatest to ever do it

The WC final against France will always be what I think of first. But he’s had countless incredible performances for Argentina 🐐

The 2022 World Cup final was the greatest game of all time and he was the reason Argentina won 🏆

Definitely recency bias but i thought he was just phenomenal against England in the semis this summer. Best on the pitch by a mile. A more vintage one would be against Brazil in the Youth World Cup, the goal he scored in that Game was outrageous and they went on to win the tournament in 05

Far too many unbelievable performances to single out just one but here we go… has to be the 2022 World Cup final, outrageous