Messi's full career match reports (including youth and unofficial matches)

As the title says, I will detail Messi's full career match reports, and by full, I do mean full. Youth games, friendlies, charities, etc, will all be included if I have info about them.

Since there isn't a thread about this topic yet, I decided to open this one.

Sources used include: Kahkonen, Mundo Deportivo's archive, numerous algorithms (such as WhoScored, SofaScore, Fotmob, FootballCritic, Infogol, and AiScore, which will be seen later), and others.

 

Let's start with Grandoli, Messi's very first team he played for.

According to Salvador Aparicio, coach of Grandoli when Messi played, this is what he recalled from Messi's first game: "The first ball went by his side and he looked at it. The second one went to his left foot and he started to dribble at everyone. From there, I didn't take him out anymore.

The first footage that can be found of Messi playing is of 29/05/1993, against a team I supposed is called 'Amanecer' guessing from the green-and-white flag seen in the video.

Regardless, Messi, with his characteristic Nº 10 shirt, can be seen dribbling past various players and even scoring four goals (three of them can be seen here).



And with footage from this video, you can see the fourth goal from Messi in that match (skip to 2:54)

 

In 1994, Messi scored 40 goals in only 29 games. Of those matches, NOB "A" won 23, drew 3, and lost another 3. He lost to Central A, and twice to Tiro Suizo, which were evidently the other two 'powers' that were fighting for hegemony at that time. He scored the most goals that year against NOB "D", seven in two matches. And those he could not score against were Tiro Suizo, Alianza Sport, and Newell's B (twice against each of them) and Central A, once.

His debut match was against Pablo VI on 09/04/1994, where he scored four goals in his team's 6-0 victory.

There is an anecdote of a semi-final between Newell's Old Boys and Club Deportivo Rosario, as Leguizamón told:

They went on to win the final as well.

There's also an anecdote of him playing the Rosario derby against Rosario Central, and one of the fathers yelling 'Kill him! Kill him!' to his kid since Messi did a sombrero on him on five occasions.

And regarding footage, here he is playing a game on 07/05/1994 (3:49, 4:04, and 4:17)


There's this video of him playing against Tiro Suizo on 15/10/1994

 

Going to 1995, he scored 36 goals in 30 games. In that year Leo's team, managed by Carlos Morales, won 27 matches and tied only 3 (against Central A, Morning B and Tiro Suizo). He scored the most goals against Alianza "A", five in two matches. And the only one he was unable to score against twice during the season was Newell's "C".

There's footage of him playing for Central Córdoba against Social Lux on 10/09/1995. As far as I could tell from the footage, these were the stats I could pick up from Messi: 1 goal, 3 shots (2 on target, 1 blocked), 6 dribbles, 2 key passes, 5 passes, 1 foul won, 1 interception, 2 tackles, and 1 clearance. His team won 2-0 and won the trophy.

 

To speed things up, I'll put his remaining four years at Newell's in this single post.

In 1996, Messi played 27 games and scored 36 goals. In those 27 games, his team won 23 and drew 4 (against Newell's C, Alianza Sport B, and Oriental A, twice). He only went scoreless twice against Pablo VI, though his team won both games.

There are no specific match highlights from Messi in this year, though there is an anecdote of him stealing the show on Gerardo 'Tata' Martino's farewell game, quote:

In 1997, Messi played 36 games and scored 40 goals. He went scoreless in 14 games, going scoreless twice only against Central 'A'. His team won 32 games, drew 3 (Tiro Suizo, Morning B and Renato B), and lost 1 (Central 'A').

For specific match higlights, we know that he played against Argentino 'A' on 02/08/1997, scoring 4 goals in his team's 6-0 victory.



And, of course, we have footage of him playing in Lima. The semi-final of the 13th edition of the 'Copa de Amistad' was against Cantolao, and Newell's won 10-0 with nine goals from Messi.




In 1998, Messi played 25 games and scored 27 goals. His team won 24 games, drew 1, and lost 2 (with Tiro Suizo and Newell's 'C'). He only went scoreless twice against the 'tricolor of south zone' as Infobae put it. He scored 5 goals against Lavalle in 2 games.

He played against Central Córdoba on 27/03/1998 at home, and he scored 5 goals in his team's 6-0 victory.



In 1999, Messi scored 55 goals in only 29 games, with his team winning 26 games and tying 3. Messi went scoreless in only 4 games, two against the 'auriazul 'A'' and two against the 'orange of the viaduct 'B''.

In the early days of the year, although Messi had a cast on his right hand, he still wanted to play the 'Mundialito' for his club, though for obvious reasons he couldn't. His team went undefeated until the semi-finals where they were kicked out via penalties against Vélez



There's footage of him playing against 'El Torito' on 31/10/1999, where his team won 4-3 with a goal from Messi. From what I could gather in the footage, these were Messi's stats:
1 goal, 4 shots (2 on target, 1 blocked, 1 out), 2 dribbles, 2 key passes, 18 passes, 3 fouls won, 1 tackle, 1 interception, and 1 cross blocked.



And before 1999 wrapped to a close, he played some games with his classmates in his graduation trip in Carlos Paz.

 

Though he did not play a match with River, it's relevant enough to add it here.

As the story goes, Messi scored 16 goals in his first training with River for the pre-novena, on a Tuesday in August of 2000. He was cited for training again on Wednesday and Friday, where, on the latter, he played with Gonzalo Higuaín.

 

After his short spell at River, Messi flew to Barcelona and landed on September 17th.

After Rexach returned to the club (he was at Sydney witnessing the Olympics), he programmed a game between the cadets and the juveniles. Played at the Miniestadi, Messi impressed Rexach with his technical prowess, scoring a stunning goal in the game, and Carles decided to sign Messi for Barça.

He signed his first contract on a paper napkin on December 14th, and became a Barça player on January 8th, 2001.

Now, although the main sources state Messi played against Ebre Escola Deportiva on February, this couldn't really have happened because he played against Amposta on March (+ Messi got his provisional license on March 6th), so the timeline goes like this:

Date: 07/03/2001
Rival: Amposta
Stats: 1 goal and 1 assist
Result: Win for Barça

Footage: https://streamable.com/04c898

So Messi made a good debut for Barcelona. With the Nº 9 shirt with a goal and assist to beat Amposta.

Now, onto his second game:

Date: ?/3/2001
Rival: Ebre Escola Deportiva
Fixture: GW 27, Group I of the Liga Preferente de infantiles
Result: 5-1

Footage:


Two important things happened in that game. First, he played his 2nd game for Barcelona and therefore completed a requirement from the federation to play officially for Barça in the future. And the second thing, of course, was his fibula fracture caused by Marc Baiges only a minute into the game. As a side note, he played with the Nº 11 shirt this time.

Picture prior to the game:


He was out for three months, but when Messi's dad, Jorge, asked him if he wanted to go back, Messi said:

And so, they stayed.

 

For the 2001-02 season, it seems he started the season training with the Cadete B, but he ended up playing for the Infantil A at the beginning of the season.


He scored 21 goals in 14 games for the Infantil A that season.

For the Cadete B, he played the Nike Premier Cup, but they were kicked out by Atlético Madrid on semi-finals. He apparently scored a brace against Athletic Bilbao on that tournament on 07/04/2002.

He also played the Maestrelli Tournament, where his team won against Brescia (2-1), Chievo (4-1), Inter (1-0), Regina (10-1) tied against Juve (1-1) and won against Parma (1-0), winning the tournament.

This was Messi's performance against Parma, most likely played in May, where he assisted the winning goal.

 

In the 2002-03 season he was promoted to the Cadete A. He played the Kubala Memorial Tournament. These were his games:

Date: 10/09/2002
Game Barcelona 2-0 Valencia
Stadium: Miniestadi
Fixture: Kubala Memorial Tournament (semi-finals)

Note from Mundo Deportivo:
The best player of the match was Leonel Andrés 'Messi', who managed the game and assisted the wingers as and when he wanted.



This was the final:
Date: 11/09/2002
Game: Barcelona 1-0 Villarreal
Stadium: Miniestadi
Fixture: Kubala Memorial Tournament (final)

Messi entered the game for Mendy 52 minutes in.



He scored in the following games according to https://docs.ufpr.br/~mmsabino/sstatistics/messi.html:

19/10/2002, 8-0 against Saint Gabriel. 3 goals.

23/11/2002, 13-0 against Hospitalet. 3 goals

21/12/2002, 3-3 against Espanyol. 1 goal.

By the end of the season, the Cadete A won the Catalan Cadet Honor Division, the Catalan cadet Championship, and the Spanish cadet Championship (which Messi didn't play).

This is the match report for the final of the Catalan cadet Championship:
Date: 04/05/2003
Game: Barcelona 4-1 Espanyol
Stadium: Camp Municipal Via Ferrea
Fixture: Catalan cadet Championship (final)

Messi played with a mask due to a cheekbone fracture, but he got rid of it 5 minutes into the game due to heavy sweating. He scored two goals in the first half, the second one with an individual play. He was later subbed off by Víctor at half-time.



He ended the season with 38 goals in 31 games.

 

And now it's time for the 2003-04 season. This is where the information becomes a lot more clear thanks to the work done by Mika Kähkönen here.

Date: 08/08/2003
Game: Barcelona Juvenil B 3-1 Feyernoord
Stadium: Toyota Stadium (Japan)
Fixture: Toyota U-17 Club World Cup

Messi assisted Songo'o's 1-1 equalizer 24 minutes in.


Date: 05/09/2003
Game: Barcelona Juvenil B 6-0 Real Betis Juvenil B
Stadium: Sant Adrià del Besò
Fixture: II José Luis Ruiz Casado Memorial (semi-finals)

Messi scored 2 goals in this game and made one assist.


Date: 07/09/2003
Game: Real Madrid Juvenil B 2-1 Barcelona Juvenil B
Stadium: Sant Adrià del Besò
Fixture: II José Luis Ruiz Casado Memorial (final)




Date: 12/09/2003
Game: Barcelona Juvenil B 2-1 Espanyol Juvenil B
Stadium: Miniestadi
Fixture: Joan Gil Alonso Trophy (final)

Messi scored 1 goal in this game.


Date: 14/09/2003
Game: Barcelona Juvenil A 3-0 Hércules
Stadium: Miniestadi
Fixture: Liga Nacional Juvenil Group VII (GW2)

Messi scored the opener for the game 12 minutes in.

Date: 21/09/2003
Game: Cracks 2-6 Barcelona Juvenil A
Fixture: Liga Nacional Juvenil Group VII (GW3)

Messi scored 2 goals, which were 2-4 at the 64th minute and 2-5 at the 79th minute.


Date: 28/09/2003
Game: Barcelona Juvenil A 4-0 Villarreal Juvenil A
Stadium: Miniestadi
Fixture: Liga Nacional Juvenil Group VII (GW4)

Messi scored 2 goals in this game, which were the opening 1-0 at the 39th minute and 2-0 at the 53rd minute.

Messi's celebrations for both goals can be seen here (skip to 0:59) and his goals can be seen at 1:44:



Messi got injured shortly before October 5th, and his team 1-3 lost against Espanyol Juvenil A.


Date: 12/10/2003
Game: Damm 2-3 Barcelona Juvenil A
Fixture: Liga Nacional Juvenil Group VII (GW6)

Messi scored the winning goal via penalty on the 89th minute.

A great play from him can be seen at 1:05, where he creates a penalty, and he converts from the spot at 1:53:







Pics from Messi taken that same day


Date: 19/10/2003
Game: Barcelona Juvenil A 5-2 Ferran Martorell
Stadium: Miniestadi
Fixture: Liga Nacional Juvenil Group VII (GW7)

Messi entered the game at half-time and scored twice, which were on the 61st (4-1) and 69th (5-1) minutes.


Date: 26/10/2003
Game: Gimàstic de Tarragona 0-7 Barcelona Juvenil A
Fixture: Liga Nacional Juvenil Group VII (GW8)

Messi scored a poker on this game, with goals on the 7th (1-0), 55th (3-0), 65th (4-0), and 90th minutes (7-0)


Date: 02/11/2003
Game: Barcelona Juvenil A 1-0 Valencia Juvenil A
Stadium: Miniestadi
Fixture: Liga Nacional Juvenil Group VII (GW9)

Messi played the full 90 minutes




Date: 09/11/2003
Game: Elche Juvenil A 1-1 Barcelona Juvenil A
Fixture: Liga Nacional Juvenil Group VII (GW10)

Messi played the full 90 minutes

By around this time, Rijkaard decided that he would bring some Juvenil players for the upcoming friendly against Porto (since the B and C teams had a game in that schedule). The players he had in mind were Orio Riera, Jordi Gómez, and of course, Lionel Messi.

Date: 15/11/2003
Game: Barcelona Juvenil A 8-1 Granollers
Stadium: Miniestadi
Fixture: Liga Nacional Juvenil Group VII (GW11)

Messi scored a hat-trick on this game, with goals on the 55th (4-0), 81st (7-1, via penalty), and 89th (8-1) minutes.


And then came November 16th...

 

I forgot to add this video, showing some of his highlights from that season:

 

And for this season, there are some clips of him playing between this interview:

 

Date: 16/11/2003
Game: Porto 2-0 Barcelona
Stadium: Estadio do Dragão
Fixture: Friendly (Estadio do Dragão opening game)

Messi was subbed in for Fernando at the 75th minute.

He received 3 stars from Mundo Deportivo, the 2nd highest from his team alongside Ramon Ros and Óscar, and below Jorquera with 4 stars.

Messi had 2 chances on goal but the 1st was saved by the keeper and he didn't shoot in the 2nd one.

Here's the feature report from Messi's debut against Porto:

 

After that game, he returned to the Juvenil A.


Date: 22/11/2003
Game: Vilobí 1-3 Barcelona Juvenil A
Fixture: Liga Nacional Juvenil Group VII (GW12)

Messi assisted one goal in this game.

Mundo Deportivo detailed that Messi was the best player in the match.

Barcelona proved to be solid in this match, only conceding very late into the game.



My original plan was to put the entire season in one post, but after finding more information than I thought I would, I'll make it a post per game.

 

Date: 29/11/2003
Game: Barcelona C 2-1 Europa
Stadium: Miniestadi
Fixture: Tercera División (GW6)

Messi's debut with Barcelona C, intervening in Barça's first goal with a pre-assist.

The game was witnessed by Stoichkov and the game was mentioned in Mundo Deportivo, saying that Messi had a great game.



Reinforced with Alfi and Messi, Barcelona's C team managed to get the win against Europa. The 1st half was disordered and had no clear chances at goal. But the second half proved better for the blaugranas, as Alfi scored a brace and taking control of the game. After several chances from Europa following that goal, Dolz's late discount goal proved futile as Barcelona held the score.

Messi received a 4/4 rating from Mundo Deportivo.




Some footage from Messi in that game can be seen here (3:38-3:46 and 4:01)

 

Date: 05/12/2003
Game: Málaga Juvenil A 0-2 Barcelona Juvenil A
Stadium: Nerja Stadium
Fixture: Ciudad de Nerja Trophy (semi-finals)

Messi assisted both goals playing only half an hour.


Date: 07/12/2003
Game: Barcelona Juvenil A 3-1 Real Betis Juvenil A
Stadium: Nerja Stadium
Fixture: Ciudad de Nerja Trophy (final)

Messi scored a brace in this game. The 1st one (1-1) was an individual play where he dribbled past some players and made a lob goal to the top corner from outside the box, with Messi later stating after the match that it was one of the best goals he had scored in his life. He also received an ovation from the crowd after that goal. And the 2nd goal (2-1) completed the comeback, later consolidated by Edu (3-1).

He was also named as Player of the Tournament with no opposition.

The tournament was mentioned in Mundo Deportivo and was titled 'The Juvenil 'A', champion in Málaga led by Leonel Messi'. The first sentence read:

 

Date: 13/12/2003
Game: Badalona 2-4 Barcelona Juvenil A
Stadium: Centenario
Fixture: Liga Nacional Juvenil Group VII (GW14)

Messi scored a brace in this game, one to make it 3-2 with an individual play, after the first shot was saved by Rubén, and the 2nd one via penalty to make the score 4-2. Eduardo Berzosa said '[...] and Messi's figure shone again'.

Nearly 2,000 people attended the game.

Mundo Deportivo journalist Eduardo Berzosa said the game was vibrant, and that both teams always played to find the goal.

 

Date: 20/12/2003
Game: Barcelona C 2-1 Villassar Mar
Stadium: Miniestadi
Fixture: Tercera División (GW7)






Barcelona started the game with strength and domination, creating some chances. Villassar Mar managed to score after a defensive mistake, but Pep Boada's team recovered and quickly reacted with a goal from Javito. Later in the second half, Pitu scored the winner. The game was marked by constant fouling and interruptions.

Messi received a 1/4 rating from Mundo Deportivo.

 

Date: 04/01/2004
Game: Gramenet B 2-3 Barcelona C
Fixture: Tercera División (GW8)

Messi scored a perfect hat-trick in this game, the only one he has achieved since. 2 of those goals were equalizers (1-1 and 2-2) and the 3rd one was the winner (3-2). He received an ovation from the crowd.

J. M. Roca detailed:

The game's highlights can be found here: https://beteve.cat/esports/hat-trick-perfecte-messi-barca/

Messi received a 4/4 rating from Mundo Deportivo.

 

Date: 11/01/2004
Game: Barcelona C 0-0 Cornellá
Stadium: Miniestadi
Fixture: Tercera División (GW9)

Neither team had much merti to win. Although Barça dominated for most of the game, they did little damage in the first half. Riera and Javito had chances to score in the second half but ultimately the result remained the same.

Messi received a 2/4 rating from Mundo Deportivo

 

Date: 17/01/2004
Game: Barcelona C 2-1 Palafrugell
Stadium: Miniestadi
Fixture: Tercera División (GW10)

Messi scored Barça's 2-0 at the 40th minute after taking advantage of an error from Sepu II.

It was a good game from the C team, with Palafrugell only having one clear chance at goal in the first half. Barça's victory was never in doubt despite Jonathan's discount goal.

Messi received a 3/4 rating from Mundo Deportivo. Alberto Barroso detailed that 'Oriol Riera and Messi led the triumph'.






Footage from Messi in that game can be seen here (3:46-3:51 and 4:02)

 

Date: 25/01/2004
Game: L'Hospitalet 2-1 Barcelona C
Fixture: Tercera División (GW11)

Messi's most notable play in this game was giving a chance to Eduardo, who couldn't convert to a goal.

Barcelona scored quickly after the game started, but 'Hospi' took control of the game afterward and made a comeback with goals from Albert Martínez and Roger. After the 2nd goal, Barcelona tried to get back into the game, but the score remained 2-1 in favor of L'Hospitalet.

Messi received a 3/4 rating from Mundo Deportivo