Barcelona and Inter Miami help Lionel Messi earn another historic distinction

Lionel Messi is the player who has received the most awards from the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics). In fact, in May 2025, the organization named him the best footballer in history, ahead of Pele (second) and Diego Maradona (third). Cristiano Ronaldo appears in fourth place.

And now, Messi adds a new record that only this body could detect. It turns out that Leo and his former teammate, Sergio Busquets, are the two footballers who have played the most matches together in the entire history of world football. Combining their time at Barcelona and Inter Miami, they played 653 games as teammates.

Among the most important tournaments they shared wearing the Barcelona shirt are Spain's LaLiga (they won eight titles together) and the UEFA Champions League (where they were crowned three times).

Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets are football's most prolific duo

With this mark, Messi and Busquets surpass the duo that the Spaniard had formed with Gerard Pique, with whom he played 620 matches at Barcelona. They also left behind the German pair formed by Thomas Muller and Sepp Maier, who played together at Bayern Munich and for the Germany national team.

It should be mentioned that they reached 653 matches after the MLS Final that Inter Miami won against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Dec. 6. After that match, Busquets retired from professional soccer.

Separately, Messi suffered a muscle injury in his left hamstring during a friendly against Barcelona de Guayaquil. For that reason, the exhibition match against Independiente del Valle in Puerto Rico had to be moved from Feb. 13 to Feb. 26. 

Messi's status for Inter Miami's MLS 2026 debut against LAFC on Saturday is uncertain due to the injury. Coach Javier Mascherano is expected to "take a conservative approach" regarding Messi's health, per World Soccer Talk.