Lionel Messi has scored his 79th international goal in the Argentine race, beating the South American men’s record of Brazilian legend Pele.
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 Pele, who had 77 career goals in international play.
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Messi follows the Brazilian duo Marta (109) and Cristiane (96) with the overall record of most goals scored by any South American player internationally.
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Third on the men’s list is Messi’s teammate Paris Saint-Germain Neymar, who has 69 international goals for Brazil.
“I was very nervous, I just wanted to enjoy the night. I waited a long time,” said an emotional Messi after the match. “We won the match that was the most important and now we can celebrate.”
Messi, 34, has had a memorable summer: he changed clubs from Barcelona to PSG in August and won his first international senior football title in July. He i at Albiceleste won the Copa America of Brazil in a 1-0 victory at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
After Thursday’s result, Messi danced with his teammates and showed the Cup trophy to the 21,000 fans present.
“It was a unique moment [to win the Copa America] where and how we got the title, “Messi said.
“There was no better way to do it and to be able to celebrate the title now, it’s amazing. My mom, my siblings are here in the stands. They’ve suffered a lot … I’m very happy.”
Thursday’s match also came days after Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Brazil (their first rematch since the Cup final) was controversially suspended. Brazilian health authorities entered the field of play at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo with the game in progress and accused four Argentine players of not following Brazil’s COVID-19 protocols to enter the country.
With 26 goals in the World Cup qualifiers after his hat-trick against Bolivia, Messi is also ahead of Uruguayan star Luis Suárez, his former teammate in Barcelona, for most CONMEBOL players. .
With eight career goals against Bolivia in 11 games, he is the most scored by Messi against a single rival while wearing the Argentine shirt.
Messi is also the all-time leading scorer in his country, having beaten Gabriel Batistuta (54 goals) in 2016. He is also the most covered player in Argentina, with Thursday’s match against Bolivia marking the its 153rd international appearance.
Before the victory in the Copa America, Messi had lost four finals with the Argentine national team. They were defeated by Germany in the 2014 World Cup final and had lost in the 2007, 2015 and 2016 America’s Cup finals.
He had won the Under-20 World Cup in 2005 and an Olympic gold medal with the Argentine Under-23s in 2008.
Messi joined PSG during the summer for a shock-free agent move after two decades with Barcelona. Messi had been with Barcelona since 2001, entering the academy the previous year.
Messi played 778 games in Barcelona, breaking the record for the appearance of Xavi Hernandez in the 2020-21 season. In addition, he scored 672 goals, another club record, and helped Barça win, among other trophies, 10 league and Champions League titles on four occasions.