Messi's first match vs. England: Here's his record vs. world's top teams - ESPN

While the great Lionel Messi has played over 200 times for his country and repeatedly squared off against most of the world's heavyweights at the FIFA World Cup and Copa América, it remains — at least for the time being — a strange historical quirk that the Argentina captain has never once played against England.

Argentina and England have not played each other in an international fixture of any form since a friendly in Geneva in November 2005, the same year that 18-year-old Messi made his senior debut for the Albiceleste.

With Messi now set to come up against Thomas Tuchel's side in Wednesday's second semifinal of the 2026 World Cup, the GOAT is relishing the prospect of taking on England for the first time in his long and vaunted career.

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«Obviously, playing against England is special because they are a powerhouse, and matches against powerhouses are always special,» he told ESPN. «Personally, it's the first time I'm going to play against them. I've played against everyone except England, so it will be nice for that reason too.»

Ahead of Messi's first meeting with England, we thought we'd examine his record against a selection of the biggest, most successful nations in men's international football just to assess how he has fared against the top sides.

Messi's first game against Argentina's fiercest rivals Brazil was a 3-0 loss in a friendly at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium back in 2006. Elano scored Brazil's first two goals