Lionel Messi Quiz

Lionel Messi sample questions & answers

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1. In 2021 PSG signed a six-time Ballon d'Or winner on a free transfer after his boyhood club couldn't renew his deal. Who was he?

   ALuka ModrićBCristiano RonaldoCRobert LewandowskiDLionel Messi

   Messi joined PSG in August 2021 when Barcelona's financial troubles forced them to let him leave for nothing.

2. Which Real Madrid midfielder won the 2018 Ballon d'Or, ending a decade of Messi and Ronaldo dominance?

   ALuka ModricBToni KroosCMarco AsensioDIsco

   Croatia's Luka Modric took the 2018 award after Madrid's Champions League treble and his run to the World Cup final.

3. Which Barcelona player scored a hat-trick away to Atlético Madrid in the round of 16 of the 2008-09 Copa del Rey?

   AIbrahimovićBHenryCMessiDVilla

   Messi scored all three in Barcelona's 3-1 win at the Vicente Calderón on 6 January 2009.

4. Which player scored a record 50 La Liga goals in the 2011-12 season — still the highest single-season tally in a top-five European league?

   ARadamel FalcaoBCristiano RonaldoCLionel MessiDLuis Suárez

   His total of 73 goals in all competitions that season (including Copa del Rey and Champions League) is also the most a player has ever scored in a single European season.

5. Which player scored in the most consecutive Champions League seasons?

   ARaúlBLewandowskiCRonaldoDMessi

   Messi scored in 18 successive Champions League seasons (2005-06 to 2022-23), a competition record.

6. Which La Liga player has won the most Pichichi awards — with 8 career top-scorer titles?

   ALionel MessiBHugo SánchezCTelmo ZarraDCristiano Ronaldo

   Messi won 8 Pichichi awards: 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 (5 consecutive from 2016-21). Set record of 50 LL goals in 2011-12.

7. Lionel Messi set a world record for goals in a single calendar year while at Barcelona in 2012. How many did he score for club and country?

   A85B91C96D79

   Messi scored 91 goals across 2012, breaking Gerd Müller's long-standing calendar-year record.

8. How many Champions League hat-tricks have Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo each scored — a joint competition record?

   A9B7C6D8

   Messi and Ronaldo each scored 8 Champions League hat-tricks — a joint record. Messi got all 8 for Barcelona; Ronaldo scored 7 for Real Madrid and 1 for Juventus. Both totals are settled, as neither played in the competition again after leaving European club football.

9. Which legendary striker scored a record 85 goals in a calendar year (1972) before Messi broke it with 91 in 2012?

   AEusébioBGerd MüllerCPeléDRonaldo R9

   Gerd Müller scored 85 goals for Bayern Munich & West Germany in 1972. Messi broke this with 91 in 2012 (79 Barca + 12 Argentina).

10. Which legendary player scored 85 goals in the calendar year 1972 — a record that stood until Messi's 91 in 2012?

    AGerd MüllerBBeckenbauerCUwe SeelerDKlinsmann

    Müller scored 85 goals across club (Bayern) and country (West Germany) in 1972 — unbeaten until Messi's 91 in 2012.

11. Lionel Messi made his La Liga debut for Barcelona in October 2004 against which city rivals, coming on as a substitute in a 1-0 win?

    AReal MadridBEspanyolCSevillaDValencia

    16 October 2004 at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. Messi, then 17, came on for goalscorer Deco in the 82nd minute.

12. How many times did Messi win La Liga with Barcelona?

    A8B9C7D10

    Messi won La Liga 10 times with Barcelona between 2005 and 2021.

13. At the end of the 2022 World Cup, which player held the record for most World Cup matches played — 26 appearances across 5 tournaments (2006-2022)?

    APaolo MaldiniBLionel MessiCCristiano RonaldoDMatthäus

    Messi broke Matthäus' 25-match record at Qatar 2022. His 26th WC appearance came in the final vs France.

14. Which River Plate playmaker did Lionel Messi name as the player he admired most apart from Diego Maradona?

    AEnzo FrancescoliBPablo AimarCMarcelo GallardoDAriel Ortega

    Messi grew up watching him wear River's No. 10 before he moved to Valencia.

15. Who scored the famous solo dribble — often called the 'Maradona tribute' — for Barcelona vs Getafe in the 2007 Copa del Rey semi-final?

    ARonaldinhoBEto'oCDecoDMessi

    Messi beat six defenders from inside his own half before slotting past the keeper — almost beat-for-beat Maradona's 1986 goal vs England.

16. Who said 'He's not even that good' about Lionel Messi in 2017?

    ACristiano RonaldoBDiego MaradonaCJoey BartonDSergio Ramos

    Said on a Norwegian TV show 'Viasat Fotball'.

17. Xavi Hernandez made how many appearances for Barcelona (a former club record later surpassed by Messi)?

    A763B729C767D805

    Xavi made 767 appearances for Barcelona, a club record until Lionel Messi passed it.

18. At Barcelona, Neymar formed the famous 'MSN' attacking trio with Lionel Messi and which other forward?

    ADavid VillaBPedroCAlexis SánchezDLuis Suárez

    Messi, Suárez and Neymar ('MSN') led Barcelona to the 2014-15 treble.

19. As of 2026, who holds the record for most La Liga goals in a single season?

    ALionel MessiBHugo SanchezCTelmo ZarraDCristiano Ronaldo

    Messi scored 50 La Liga goals in 2011-12, a record for any top European league.

20. Barcelona won the treble in 2014-15 - who scored the famous slaloming solo goal that opened the scoring in that season's Copa del Rey final?

    ANeymarBSuarezCPedroDMessi

    Messi's slaloming solo goal opened the scoring in Barcelona's 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao; Neymar added the other two goals.

21. Lionel Messi set a single-season La Liga scoring record in 2011-12. How many league goals did he score that campaign?

    A50B54C46D43

    Messi netted 50 La Liga goals in 2011-12, a record for a single season in Spain's top flight.

22. Which then-16-year-old made his Barcelona debut in the 2003 friendly that inaugurated the Estádio do Dragão?

    AAndrés IniestaBLionel MessiCCesc FàbregasDBojan Krkić

    A teenage Lionel Messi came off the bench for Barcelona at the Dragão's opening match in November 2003.

23. Who assisted the most La Liga goals in the 2014-15 season — the year Barcelona won the treble?

    AMessiBRakitićCIniestaDNeymar

    As well as scoring 43 league goals, Messi topped the La Liga assist charts in 2014-15, feeding Neymar and new signing Luis Suárez as Luis Enrique's side swept league, cup and Champions League.

24. How many World Cup Golden Balls had Messi won by the end of the 2022 tournament?

    A1B2C3D4

    Messi won the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player at both the 2014 and 2022 World Cups.

25. Lionel Messi has won a record 8 Ballon d'Or awards — in which year did he claim his first, by a then-record 240-point margin?

    A2008B2009C2010D2007

    Messi won on 1 December 2009 with 473 of 480 points. Ronaldo had won in 2008, Kaká in 2007. Messi's 2008-09 Barcelona won the treble under Guardiola.

26. Luka Modrić's 2018 Ballon d'Or made him the first winner other than Messi or Ronaldo since which player?

    AAndriy ShevchenkoBFabio CannavaroCKakáDRonaldinho

    Kaká won the 2007 Ballon d'Or; Messi and Ronaldo then shared every award until Modrić broke the decade-long duopoly in 2018.

27. Who holds the record for most goals scored in a single Champions League knockout match — with 5 goals vs Bayer Leverkusen in 2012?

    AKarim BenzemaBLionel MessiCCristiano RonaldoDLewandowski

    Messi scored 5 goals in Barcelona's 7-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the CL R16 first leg (March 7, 2012). Still the CL knockout record.

28. Who scored the most goals in La Liga history in total across his career?

    AAlfredo Di StefanoBLionel MessiCTelmo ZarraDHugo Sanchez

    Messi scored 474 La Liga goals during his career at Barcelona — the all-time record.

29. Lionel Messi set a La Liga record for the longest scoring streak in 2012-13 — in how many consecutive matches did he score?

    A26B33C21D18

    He scored 33 goals across those 21 games from matchday 11 to matchday 34 — a streak running from 11 November 2012 to 15 May 2013.

30. As of 2026, who has scored the most El Clasico goals in history?

    ARaulBLionel MessiCCristiano RonaldoDAlfredo Di Stefano

    Messi scored 26 goals in El Clasico matches over his career — more than any other player in the history of the fixture.

31. In which season did Lionel Messi score his highest-ever La Liga tally of 50 goals — a single-season record that still stands?

    A2014-15B2009-10C2011-12D2010-11

    Real Madrid won the league that year with a record 100 points despite Messi's astonishing tally.

32. Messi scored twice in Barcelona's 3-1 win over Athletic Club in the 2015 Copa del Rey final — who scored their other goal?

    AXaviBIniestaCNeymarDSuárez

    Messi opened with his legendary slalom from the halfway line; Neymar added the second before Messi struck again at Camp Nou.

33. In the 2009 Champions League final in Rome, Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0. Who scored the second goal with a leaping header?

    AThierry HenryBLionel MessiCSamuel Eto'oDAndrés Iniesta

    Eto'o opened the scoring and the diminutive Messi rose to head home the clincher, sealing Guardiola's first European crown.

34. Who scored 5 goals in a single Champions League match — a record — for Barcelona vs Bayer Leverkusen in 2012?

    ASuárezBVillaCRonaldinhoDMessi

    Messi scored all 5 in Barcelona's 7-1 win over Leverkusen, the first player to score 5 in a single Champions League match (later equalled by Luiz Adriano and Haaland).

35. Lionel Messi won back-to-back MLS MVP awards in 2024 and 2025 before leading Inter Miami to their first MLS Cup title. Which club did Miami beat in the 2025 final?

    ASeattle SoundersBNYCFCCVancouver WhitecapsDAtlanta United

    Inter Miami beat Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 in the final on December 6, 2025.

36. Whose calendar-year record (85 goals in 1972) did Messi surpass when he hit 91 goals in 2012?

    ARonaldoBPeléCGerd MüllerDPuskás

    Gerd Müller scored 85 goals for Bayern Munich + West Germany in 1972 — the standing calendar-year record until Messi's 91 in 2012 (79 for Barça + 12 for Argentina).

37. Kaká was the last man to win the Ballon d'Or before Messi and Ronaldo monopolised it for a decade. In which year did the Milan playmaker claim football's biggest individual prize?

    A2005B2009C2004D2007

    He lifted it months after dragging Milan to a Champions League final win over Liverpool in Athens. Cristiano Ronaldo took the award the very next year.

38. Messi's record 91 goals in 2012 — how many came for Argentina vs Barcelona?

    A8 and 83B10 and 81C12 and 79D7 and 84

    Seventy-nine of the record 91 came for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina — breaking Gerd Muller's calendar-year mark of 85 from 1972.

39. As of 2026, who is Barcelona's all-time top scorer in La Liga?

    AMessiBRonaldoCFàbregasDRomário

    Messi scored 474 La Liga goals for Barcelona between 2004 and 2021, also the all-time record for the competition.

40. Who won La Liga's Pichichi top scorer award the most times?

    ATelmo ZarraBLionel MessiCCristiano RonaldoDRaul

    Messi won the Pichichi eight times across his Barcelona career.

41. Lionel Messi scored how many goals in the 2011-12 Champions League — equalling José Altafini's 1962-63 record for a single campaign?

    A12B18C14D16

    Five of the 14 came in a single night — a 7-1 demolition of Bayer Leverkusen in March 2012, the first five-goal haul in Champions League history. Cristiano Ronaldo took the record to 17 in 2013-14.

42. As of 2026, who is the all-time top scorer in La Liga history?

    ALionel MessiBCristiano RonaldoCHugo SánchezDRaúl

    Messi netted 474 La Liga goals for Barcelona (2004-2021), comfortably clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's 311.

43. Who won the 2021 Ballon d'Or — his then-record-extending seventh win — after captaining Argentina to their first major international trophy in 28 years at the Copa América?

    AJorginhoBLewandowskiCKarim BenzemaDLionel Messi

    Messi finished 33 points ahead of Lewandowski (second) and Jorginho (third). He had been at Barcelona for most of 2021 before moving to PSG in August.

44. Who scored a hat-trick in Manchester City's 4-3 away win at Newcastle in May 2021 — becoming the youngest player ever to net a league hat-trick for a Pep Guardiola side, beating Lionel Messi's record?

    AFerran TorresBRaheem SterlingCGabriel JesusDPhil Foden

    At 21 years 75 days, Torres beat the mark Messi set at 22 years 200 days (vs Tenerife, January 2010).

45. Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or a record eighth time in which year?

    A2024B2021C2023D2022

    Messi's eighth Ballon d'Or in 2023 came on the back of leading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup, beating Erling Haaland to the award.

46. Which manager popularised the modern 'False 9' tactic — moving Messi from the wing into a roaming striker role at Barcelona?

    ACapelloBVan GaalCCruyffDGuardiola

    Guardiola famously deployed Messi as a False 9 in the 6-2 destruction of Real Madrid in May 2009 and beyond. The False 9 concept itself dates back to 1930s Austria (Matthias Sindelar), but Pep brought it to the modern game.

47. Which Israeli club did PSG beat 7-2 at the Parc des Princes in the 2022-23 Champions League group stage — with Messi, Mbappé (both braces) and Neymar all scoring?

    AMaccabi Tel AvivBMaccabi HaifaCBeitar JerusalemDHapoel Tel Aviv

    It was PSG's biggest UCL group stage win that season. Messi scored with the outside of his left foot — one of his finest goals for the club.

48. Whose mesmerising dribble past Croatia's Joško Gvardiol, and cut-back for Julián Álvarez, sealed Argentina's 3-0 win in the 2022 World Cup semi-final?

    ARodrigo De PaulBEnzo FernándezCLionel MessiDÁngel Di María

    The 34-year-old had earlier scored from the penalty spot. Álvarez (21) scored a brace including a brilliant solo run; Argentina booked the final against France.

49. Against which club did Lionel Messi score his first career hat-trick in La Liga — in a famous 3-3 El Clásico draw on 10 March 2007?

    AValenciaBSevillaCAtlético MadridDReal Madrid

    Aged just 19, Messi scored all 3 Barca goals at the Camp Nou (equalising 2-2 and then 3-3 in the 90th minute).

50. Messi scored how many hat-tricks in La Liga — a record for the competition?

    A36B33C40D29

    By his Barcelona exit in 2021, Messi had 36 La Liga hat-tricks to Cristiano Ronaldo's 34 — alongside a competition-record 474 league goals.

51. Which player scored 91 goals in a single calendar year in 2012, a world record?

    ACristiano RonaldoBNeymarCLionel MessiDLuis Suarez

    Messi's 91 goals in 2012 shattered Gerd Muller's record of 85 set in 1972.

52. Barcelona's youth academy, which produced Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and Busquets, is known by what name — taken from an old farmhouse near the stadium?

    ALa MasiaBLa CartujaCLa FábricaDLa Cantera

    'La Masia' means 'the farmhouse'; the rustic building (Can Planes, built 1702) beside the old Camp Nou housed young players for decades. ('La Fábrica' is Real Madrid's academy.)

53. Who was the first player to score 50 goals in a single La Liga season?

    ABoth Ronaldo and Messi in different yearsBRonaldo for Real MadridCMessi for BarcelonaDGerd Müller for Bayern

    Messi scored a record 50 La Liga goals in 2011-12 — the first player ever to reach 50 in a single La Liga season.

54. Which player holds the La Liga record for most goals in a single season — 50 goals in 37 games during the 2011-12 campaign?

    ALionel MessiBLuis SuárezCKarim BenzemaDCristiano Ronaldo

    Messi scored 50, Ronaldo 46 that season — a combined 96 was the most ever by two players in the same European top-flight season.

55. Lionel Messi joined which MLS club in 2023?

    ALA GalaxyBNYCFCCAtlanta UnitedDInter Miami CF

    Inter Miami — co-owned by David Beckham. Messi joined in July 2023 on a contract worth a reported $50-60m/year.

56. Barcelona's all-time leading scorer racked up an astonishing 672 goals for the club. Who is it?

    ALionel MessiBLuis SuárezCSamuel Eto'oDCésar Rodríguez

    Messi's 672 goals between 2004 and 2021 are a world record for a single club; César Rodríguez's 232 had stood as the club mark for roughly 57 years before Messi passed it in 2012.

57. In the 2010 Ballon d'Or, the three finalists for the world's best player were ALL from the same club and youth academy. Which three players?

    AMessi, Xavi and IniestaBMessi, Eto'o and HenryCXavi, Iniesta and BusquetsDMessi, Villa and Pedro

    La Masia became the first academy ever to produce all three finalists in one year; Messi took the prize ahead of Iniesta and Xavi.

58. In December 2007 a six-month-old Lamine Yamal was photographed in the bath with which Barcelona player for a charity calendar?

    ALionel MessiBCarles PuyolCRonaldinhoDAndrés Iniesta

    The shoot took place in the visitors' dressing room at Camp Nou, and the pictures went viral in July 2024 when Yamal's father posted them during Euro 2024.

59. Barcelona signed striker Luis Suárez in 2014 from which club, forming the MSN trio alongside Messi and Neymar?

    AAtlético MadridBInter MilanCLiverpoolDAjax

    Suárez arrived from Liverpool in 2014, immediately combining with Messi and Neymar to fire Barça to the treble.

60. As of 2026, which Argentine holds the record for most assists for his country's national team?

    ALionel MessiBÁngel Di MaríaCJuan Román RiquelmeDDiego Maradona

    Lionel Messi has the most international assists for Argentina (the most by any male player for one national team).

61. Barcelona's MSN trident terrorised Europe during the 2015 treble. Which trio made up MSN?

    AMessi, Suárez and NeymarBMessi, Silva and NeymarCMessi, Sánchez and NeymarDMessi, Suárez and Neymar Sr.

    Messi, Suárez and Neymar combined for a record 122 goals in 2014-15, firing Barça to a second continental treble.

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