Most goals scored in a La Liga career

The most goals scored in the Spanish football national top division is 474, by Lionel Messi (Argentina) playing for FC Barcelona from 1 May 2005 to 16 May 2021.

Over the course of 17 seasons with the Catalan giants, Messi played in 520 Spanish league matches, giving him a strike rate of 0.91 goals per game. He finished as La Liga’s top scorer in a record eight seasons, including his final five consecutively. His goal tally included a record 36 hat-tricks. Messi surpassed the previous league record of 251 goals, held by the legendary Athletic Bilbao striker Telmo Zarra, with a hat-trick against Sevilla on 22 November 2014.