Lionel Messi became the third male player to score 100 international goals as he reached his century in the first half of Argentina’s friendly with Curacao on Tuesday.
The Paris Saint-Germain striker collected the ball in the middle of the box, cut to his right and hit a low shot past the keeper to achieve the remarkable milestone of his career.
Messi achieved the feat in his 174th appearance for his country, having scored his 99th international goal – and the 800th of his career – in Thursday’s 2-0 win over Panama.
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He is the first South American male player to reach 100 goals and the second South American overall behind Brazil’s Marta, who has 109 for the country.
The match against Curacao was the second since they lifted the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in December, Argentina’s first world title in 36 years.
Messi, 35, remains third on the men’s all-time list of top international scorers behind Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who reached the century of goals in September 2020, and now has 120, and Iran’s Ali Daei, who scored 109 before retiring in 2007. .
Almost half (46) of Messi’s goals have come in international friendlies. The former Barcelona striker scored 28 goals in World Cup qualifiers, including a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Ecuador in October 2017 that secured Argentina’s passage to the World Cup 2018.
Messi has scored 13 times in the Copa America and he is Argentina’s top scorer in World Cup competitions, having scored 13 goals in 26 appearances across five editions, starting in 2006.
A record seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, Messi made his Argentina debut in August 2005 in a 2-1 win over Hungary, a match in which he was sent off after just two minutes. He scored his first international goal a year later in his sixth appearance against Croatia.
He had a goal and an assist within 13 minutes of making his World Cup debut for Argentina aged 18 in a 6-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro at the World Cup 2006.
While Messi didn’t score in the 2021 Copa America final triumph over rivals Brazil at the Maracana Stadium, his first major trophy with Argentina.
He scored seven times at the World Cup in Qatar. Including two against France in the final.
The Rosario-born player will have the chance to add to his goal tally when Argentina host Curacao in a friendly match on March 28.
