[ad_1]
Lionel Messi scored his 79th international career goal for Argentina, surpassing the South American men’s record held by Brazilian legend Pelé.
Messi scored all three goals in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Bolivia on Thursday in a World Cup qualifier at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires, giving him two more than Pelé, who has scored 77 career goals in international matches.
Messi is behind Brazilian duo Marta (109) and Cristiane (96) for the overall record for most goals scored by a South American player at international level.
Third on the men’s list is Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain teammate Neymar, who has 68 international goals for Brazil.
With 26 goals in World Cup qualifying matches, Messi also overtakes Uruguayan star Luis Suarez – his former Barcelona teammate – for most CONMEBOL players.
With eight career goals against Bolivia in 11 games, this is Messi’s most goals against a single opponent while wearing the Argentina jersey.
– Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN + (US only)
– You don’t have ESPN? Access immediately
Messi is also his country’s all-time top scorer, having passed Gabriel Batistuta (54 goals) in 2016. He is also Argentina’s most capped player, Thursday’s game against Bolivia marking his 153rd international appearance. .
Messi, 34, won his first senior international football title this summer at the 2021 Copa America in a 1-0 win over Brazil.
Prior to this victory at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Messi had lost four major finals with the Argentina senior team. They were beaten by Germany in the 2014 World Cup final and lost in the Copa America final in 2007, 2015 and 2016.
He won the Under-20 World Cup in 2005 and an Olympic gold medal with Argentina’s U23s in 2008.
Messi joined PSG over the summer as part of a shock transfer after two decades with Barcelona. Messi had been with Barcelona since 2001, joining the academy the year before.
Messi has made 778 appearances for Barcelona, breaking Xavi Hernandez’s record for appearing in the 2020-21 season. In addition, he scored 672 goals, another club record, and helped Barca win, among other trophies, 10 La Liga titles and the Champions League on four occasions.
Source link
