Argentina’s Lionel Messi became the third player in football history to score and exceed 100 goals for his national team on Tuesday when he scored three times in the world champion’s friendly match with Curaçao (7-0).
In Santiago Del Estero, FIFA’s ‘The Best’ scored the Argentines’ first goal, in the 20th minute, assisted by Giovani Lo Celso, for his 100th goal for the ‘albi-celeste’, then scored again on 33 and 37 , adding 102, in 174 games.
Messi, currently 35 years old, joins Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo in the centennial club, who scored 122 goals in 198 games, and already retired Iranian Ali Daei, who finished his career with 109 in 148 games.
The ’10’ reach this record in the second friendly after winning the world title in Lusail, Qatar, where Argentina defeated France 4-2 on penalties in the final on December 18, 2022, after 2-2 in the 90 minutes and 3-3 in 120 minutes.
In fact, the Paris Saint-Germain player is living the most prolific phase, in terms of goals, for the national team, adding, with the hat-trick to Curaçao, a total of 21 goals in the last 13 matches. since ‘manita’ to Estonia on June 05, 2022.
In these 13 encounters, Messi scored in 12, only missing against Poland, in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, in a match in which, curiously enough, he even missed a penalty.
Born in Rosario on June 24, 1987, the player made his debut for the Argentina national team on August 17, 2005, against Hungary, in a match in which he was sent off shortly after entering the field, and scored his debut in the sixth match, against Croatia, in a friendly match held on March 1, 2006.
On Tuesday, he reached and surpassed the 100-goal mark, in a career for the ‘albi-celeste’ in which, of course, the 2022 world title stands out, which he added to the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 Finalissima.
In his senior career, Messi now has a total of 830 goals, plus 366 assists – the latest against Curaçao, for former Benfica player Enzo Fernández – in 1,073 games.
If you count only the goals for the senior team and also the main teams of FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, the total comes to 803 goals, plus 361 assists, in 1,108 games.
In the 2022/23 season, Messi now has 34 goals and 23 assists in 44 games.
Top scorers by selection:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) 122 goals (198 games)
2. Ali Daei (Iran) 109 (148)
3. Lionel Messi (Argentina) 102 (174)
4. Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia) 89 (142)
5. Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) 84 (89)
6. Sunil Chhetri (India) 84 (132)
7. Ali Mabkhout (United Arab Emirates) 80 (109)
8. Godfrey Chitalu (Zambia) 79 (111)
9. Hussein Saeed (Iraq) 78 (137)
10. Robert Lewandowski (Poland) 78 (140)
11. Pelé (Brazil) 77 (92)
12. Neymar (Brazil) 77 (124)
Source: DN
