Lionel Messi breaks Pele’s South American international goals record

sport
Lionel Messi Breaks Pele’s South American International Goals Record
Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates scoring his team´s third goal, © AP/Press Association Images
Share this article

By PA Sport Staff

Lionel Messi broke Pele’s record for most international goals by a South American footballer with a hat-trick in Argentina’s World Cup qualifier win over Bolivia on Thursday night.

Messi scored all his country’s goals in the 3-0 defeat of Bolivia in Buenos Aires, giving him 79 for Argentina and taking him past Pele’s haul for Brazil of 77.

Advertisement

In front of 20,000 fans at the Monumental Stadium, Messi matched Pele when he opened the scoring in the 14th minute with a shot from outside the box.

Argentina Bolivia Wcup Soccer
Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul hold the Copa America trophy, won in July, at the end of their match against Bolivia on Thursday (Juan Roncoroni/Pool/AP)

He broke the record by dribbling past a defender for his second in the 64th minute, and added his third from a rebound two minutes from the end.

Advertisement

The 34-year-old celebrated after the match with the Copa America trophy, having led Argentina to his first major title with his country in July with a victory over Brazil in the final.

Messi’s Paris St Germain teammate Neymar sits third on the South American list with 68 goals.

Read More

Message submitting... Thank you for waiting.

Want us to email you top stories each lunch time?

Download our Apps
© BreakingNews.ie 2024, developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com