A lengthy friendship exists between Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria. Together, they’ve achieved a great deal of success, particularly among Argentina’s younger demographics.
Messi, who is eight months younger than Di Maria, and the rest of La Albiceleste won gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing because to their partnership. Messi and Di Maria, both left-footed players, had outstanding seasons, with Messi scoring three goals and assisting on two more in only five games. With a goal by Di Maria in the championship game versus Nigeria, Argentina took home the trophy.
More than ten years later, they had some senior team success. Di Maria scored the game-winning goal in Argentina’s 1-0 Copa America 2021 championship victory against Brazil. La Albiceleste broke an almost three-decade trophy drought with to Messi’s two goals and four assists, as well as Di Maria’s goal and assist.
A year later, the pair had even greater joint success. Messi had a hand in all three goals in the Finalissima victory against Italy, while Di Maria scored once on her own, but the best was yet to come.
Argentina won the whole 2022 FIFA World Cup. Messi scored seven goals and dished out three assists, while Di Maria scored once and set up two more, as La Albiceleste won the tournament for the first time since 1986.
Messi posted a photo from Di Maria’s Instagram account in which the two players were seen celebrating a goal in 2008 and the same goal 14 years later. Di Maria wrote (in Spanish) as a caption to his story:
“Everything remains the same.”
Messi signed with Inter Miami this summer after becoming a free agent. He contributed 10 goals and an assist as the Herons won their first Leagues Cup.
Meanwhile, Di Maria signed with Benfica this summer and has already scored twice in three appearances for the club across all competitions.
What was the performance of Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria during their only season as teammates in club football?
In 2021-22, when Messi left Barcelona on a free transfer, he and Di Maria played one season of club football together for PSG.
Together, they played in 24 games across all competitions, with Messi scoring six times and setting up ten more, and Di Maria contributing four times and setting up six more. The French Ligue 1 championship was won by Paris.
After seven seasons and 295 games with the club, Di Maria departed in the summer of 2022 with 93 goals and 119 assists. This summer, Messi scored 32 goals and assisted on another 35 in 75 appearances across all competitions.