When considered separately, Lionel Messi's international career with Argentina has been extraordinarily successful.

He is, after all, the player with the most caps for his country as well as La Albiceleste's all-time leading scorer.

Messi has had such success at the club level, first with Barcelona and most recently with Paris Saint-Germain, that his international career does, nevertheless, seem quite insignificant in contrast.

His journey to Argentina has undoubtedly included highs and lows. Major awards have been received, but there have also been a lot of heartbreaks and finals defeats.

We look back on Messi's international career's high points as he makes what may be his final try to win the World Cup.

Sent off on debut

Messi was the focus of an international dispute between Argentina and Spain when he was a youngster.

At the 2005 South American Youth Championship, he opted to play for his country and did so, scoring the game-winning goal against Brazil in the championship match.

Later that year, in a friendly match against Hungary, Messi made his full debut for his country. The 18-year-old player replaced another player in the second half, but he did not have the impact that everyone had hoped for.

His debut lasted just two minutes before he was dismissed for striking the full-back with his arm while trying to avoid Hungarian defender Vilmos Vanczak.

Copa America losses

Despite a rocky start to his international career, Messi quickly cemented his place as a fixture in the Argentina team.

He participated in the 2006 World Cup and started for a team that was predicted to win the 2007 Copa America. He would win the award for the best young player, but Argentina fell to Brazil 3-0 in the championship game.

In 2015, eight years later, they made it to another Copa America championship game. La Albiceleste lost a penalty shootout against Chile 4-1 after a 0-0 tie, with Messi scoring the sole goal.

The next year, the competition was organized once more to commemorate its centennial.

Again Argentina met Chile in the final and again the match ended 0-0 and went to penalties. This time Chile won the shootout 4-2, with the talisman missing the opening kick.

Olympic champion

Messi was a gold medal winner at the Olympics

One year after that first Copa America final defeat, Messi tasted international success at senior level but only after the intervention of his club manager.

Barcelona did not want him to play for Argentina at the 2008 Olympics as it clashed with their Champions League qualifiers.

They even took legal action to prevent him joining the squad until the newly-appointed head coach Pep Guardiola persuaded the club to relent.

Messi starred in a team that went all the way to the final in Beijing, beating Brazil in the semi-finals.

A 1-0 victory against Nigeria secured gold for Argentina — four years after being crowned champions at the Athens Olympics.

World Cup defeat

The Copa America is not the only international tournament where Messi has suffered plenty of heartbreak.

Argentina were knocked out of both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups at the quarter-final stage by Germany. In the latter tournament, a tactically naive team managed by Diego Maradona were thrashed 4-0.

Four years later in Brazil, the pressure was on Messi to repeat the accomplishments of Maradona as a player and lead the nation to World Cup success.

He scored four goals to help the team through to the 2014 final, where they would once again play Germany.

For the third World Cup in a row, the Germans beat Argentina. Messi spurned several scoring opportunities and Germany eventually edged it 1-0 in extra-time.

The Golden Ball award for best player was controversially awarded to Messi but provided little consolation.

Copa success

Messi finally got to hold the Copa America trophy in 2021

Messi’s long streak of international heartbreak finally came to an end in 2021 at the Copa America in Brazil.

Argentina and Colombia were meant to be co-hosts, but the coronavirus crisis saw Brazil step in. On home territory, the Selecao were hot favourites to win the tournament.

Messi and Argentina had other ideas. This was a much less star-studded side compared to the ones that had tried and failed to win past editions and they were perhaps all the better for it.

A defensively solid team built around their star man would beat Brazil 1-0 in the final.

Messi was key to the victory, finishing as top scorer and being named Player of the Tournament.