Lionel Messi is a legend of world football. When he retires it won’t be long before he will have broken the record of the most international goals scored by a player in World Cup history. After scoring his 200th goal for his country, Messi is now the record holder with 209 international goals. He also holds the record for most La Liga goals scored with 250, making him the highest scoring football player of all time.
It has just been announced that the Messi has broken the record of the most goals scored in the Copa Libertadores, the South American Copa, becoming the most prolific player in the history of the competition. The Argentinean scored 9 goals in 11 appearances. The previous record was Pele, with 6.
Lionel Messi made history again on Thursday, making the first ever hat trick for a soccer player in a World Cup qualifier. The Barcelona striker scored three times over the course of the match, and not only broke the record for most goals scored in a single qualifying match, he also tied the record for most goals scored in a single World Cup tournament, set by Pele in 1958.
Lionel Messi has set a new South American men’s record by scoring his 79th international goal for Argentina, surpassing Brazil great Pele.
Messi scored all three goals in Argentina’s 3-0 victory against Bolivia in a World Cup qualifying match at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires on Thursday, putting him two goals ahead of Pele, who has 77 international goals in his career.
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Messi is second only to Marta (109) and Cristiane (96) in terms of most goals scored by a South American player in international competition.
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Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain teammate Neymar, who has 69 international goals for Brazil, is third on the men’s list.
“I was extremely anxious, and all I wanted to do was relax and enjoy the evening. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time “After the game, an emotional Messi expressed his feelings. “The most important thing is that we won the game, and now we can rejoice.”
Pele, a three-time World Cup champion, is still in hospital after undergoing surgery on Monday to remove a tumor from his colon, but the 80-year-old described the procedure as a “wonderful triumph.”
Messi, 34, has had an eventful summer, switching from Barcelona to PSG in August and earning his first senior international championship in July. In a 1-0 victory in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium, he and La Albiceleste won the Copa America from Brazil.
Following the victory on Thursday, Messi danced with his colleagues and proudly displayed the Copa trophy to the 21,000 fans in attendance.
“Winning the Copa America was a once-in-a-lifetime experience because of where and how we won,” Messi remarked.
“There was no better way to accomplish it, and now that we have the championship, it’s fantastic. My mother and brothers are in the audience. They’ve been through a lot… I’m overjoyed.”
Argentina’s World Cup qualifying match against Brazil, their first rematch since the Copa final, was controversially postponed only days before the game on Thursday. While the game was still in progress, Brazilian health officials stormed the field at Sao Paulo’s Corinthians Arena and charged four Argentina players of violating Brazil’s COVID-19 entry procedures.
Lionel Messi has already overtaken Pele in terms of international goals. Getty Images/JUAN IGNACIO RONCORONI/POOL/AFP
Following his hat-trick against Bolivia, Messi now has 26 goals in World Cup qualifying matches, passing Uruguay’s Luis Suarez — a former Barcelona colleague — for the most among CONMEBOL players.
Messi has the most goals against a single opponent while wearing the Argentina jersey, with eight goals in 11 appearances.
Messi has also surpassed Gabriel Batistuta (54 goals) as Argentina’s all-time top scorer. With his 153rd international appearance against Bolivia on Thursday, he is Argentina’s most capped player.
Messi had previously lost four major finals with Argentina’s senior team before winning the Copa America. They lost in the finals of the Copa America in 2007, 2015, and 2016 after being defeated by Germany in the 2014 World Cup final.
In 2005, he won the Under-20 World Cup, and in 2008, he earned an Olympic gold medal with Argentina’s Under-23 team.
After two decades at Barcelona, Messi signed a free-agent deal with PSG in the summer. Messi has been at Barcelona since 2001, when he first joined the academy.
In the 2020-21 season, Messi broke Xavi Hernandez’s appearance record with 778 games for Barcelona. In addition, he set a club record with 672 goals and helped Barca win 10 La Liga championships and the Champions League four times, among other honors.
A new record for Messi, who is now the all-time leading scorer in the Copa America history with 45 goals, passed the one held by Brazilian legend, and PSG star, Pele, who had 18 in 37 tournaments. A new record for a club player, Messi has a total of six in UEFA Champions League, a record he shares with Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta. Those numbers put Messi in company of the best in the world when it comes to being a goal-scorer.. Read more about barcelona players and let us know what you think.
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