He's won the Ballon d'Or a record five times.

He's the all-time leading goal scorer in La Liga history.

Some people even consider him the greatest player of our generation despite being just 28 years old.

Still, there's something glaringly obvious missing from Lionel Messi's incredible portfolio: a major championship win for Argentina. Messi has accomplished nearly everything one could imagine at the club level, but he has failed to lead Argentina to a FIFA World Cup title or a Copa America championship.

Pele, Ronaldo (Brazil) and Diego Maradona are widely considered the best players of the 21st century not just because of what they did for their club but also because they won so much for Brazil and Argentina. Messi has broken almost every record imaginable for Barcelona and numerous other milestones in La Liga. He still holds the La Liga record for most goals in a single season with 50, and his passing skills are second to no other player on the planet. Messi has brought Barcelona seven league titles, three Copa del Reys, four Champions Leagues, and even the exclusive treble.

Argentina fans watch from across the Atlantic Ocean wondering when Messi will deliver a major championship to them.

Unfortunately it is much tougher to win at the country level than it is for your club because of so many fewer opportunities. The World Cup is obviously only played once every four years, and the Copa America is only played about once every two to four years. In addition to less opportunity, Messi also faces extremely tough competition. Facing and beating South American nations at the Copa America is no easy task. Some of the greatest players in the world hail from the Latin American continent, and there's no reason to believe that will change anytime soon. Neymar, Luis Suarez, Claudio Bravo and James Rodriguez are just a few elite examples.

In many ways Messi is the opposite of Javier Hernandez. Hernandez has made his legacy far more with the Mexican National Team as opposed to any club in Europe. "Chichorita" has led Mexico to a Gold Cup victory, the biggest championship honor in North America. It is fair to mention however that CONCACAF can't match up to CONMEBOL country for country.

Messi recently displayed his strong passion for Argentine soccer expressing that he would one day like to return.

"Yes. I've always said that. It was always my dream when I was a boy, though I had to leave at a very early age because of my situation and it didn't happen. I had to go to Europe, start out with Barcelona and make my career there. But I would like to return to Argentinian football one day. What happens after that, only God knows," Messi said.

Argentina is one of the top soccer nations of all-time, but they have been in a long title drought, for their standards. The last time we saw Argentina win the World Cup was back in 1986, when they defeated West Germany. Argentina has since lost twice in the finals of the World Cup. Both finals defeats came against the Germans, and both games ended, 1-0. Messi was a member of the 2014 squad that lost in the championship.

Argentina also hasn't won the Copa America since 1993, when Messi was just 6 years old. He was a youngster in 2007 helping his country reach the finals but fell to Brazil 3-0 in the championship. This past year he once again led Argentina to the finals, but once again, his squad fell short. This time Argentina lost at the hands of the host nation, Chile. Messi has led Argentina to three (two Copa Americas, one World Cup) major championship appearances. However, they are 0-3 in those three games with zero goals to show for.

Messi is a little fortunate heading in to this year. A special Copa América Centenario will be played in the United States beginning in June celebrating the 100th year anniversary of the tournament. Messi won't have to wait four years to bring a continental championship to Argentina. There's a good chance we could see Messi play considering he has yet win the big one for Argentina.

Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1

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