Messi set to chalk up 1,000th appearance in clash vs. Australia

Argentina take on Australia in the last 16 of the World Cup on Saturday at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium with all eyes set to on Lionel Messi.

PSG and Argentine striker Lionel Messi will walk out the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium tunnel on  Saturday night with the expectations of millions on his shoulders when  his ‘Albiceleste’ side face Australia in the last 16 of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

That is nothing new, of course, for this will be the 1,000th match of  a remarkable career that may yet to have peaked – though that will  depend on whether Messi can inspire his country past Australia and all  the way to World Cup glory.

Now aged 35, Messi has already accepted this will be his final chance  to lift the most famous trophy of them all, a little over a year on  from helping La Albiceleste end their 28-year wait for a major title  with Copa America success.

Ahead of the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s milestone match, we look at the numbers behind his previous 999 appearances for  club and country – and why the next two weeks could yet define his  career.

1,000 not out

Some 18 years and 48 days on from that first appearance for FC Barcelona comes game number 1,000 for club and country – and what a truly huge occasion it is  for Messi and Argentina, who recovered from a slow start in the group  phase to advance.

Messi has featured in 22 previous World Cup matches – one more than  Diego Maradona as the most ever for an Argentina player – scoring eight  times and assisting six more.

Incredibly for a player of his game-changing quality, Messi has yet  to score in the knockout stages of the World Cup – 23 efforts, zero  goals. Interestingly, the same is also true of archenemy Cristiano  Ronaldo (25 shots without a goal).

The aim for Messi will be to put that right against Australia on what  will be his 169th senior cap, 17 years on from his senior international  bow against Hungary, which came just 10 games into his career for club  and country.

And while it will be a special occasion for Messi, the man many  consider to be the greatest of all time will hope to make it to 1,003  matches before Argentina’s Qatar campaign concludes.

Should that be the case and Argentina go on to lift the World Cup for  the first time since 1986, a centre-stage Messi will have the defining  moment of a truly special career that still has some way to go yet.