Lionel Messi makes history with 100th goal for Argentina

Lionel Messi became the third player ever to score 100 international goals with his 20th minute goal against Curaçao on Tuesday, and the first to accomplish that feat with a men’s FIFA World Cup trophy. Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Iran’s Ali Daei each scored 100 goals with their respective countries, but neither have a World Cup to their name. Messi, 35, won the World Cup with Argentina in 2022.

Messi also scored goals Nos. 101 and 102 in the first half of Tuesday’s game. The final score was 7-0 in Argentina’s favor.

Messi’s latest feat comes just days after he became the second-ever player to score 800 career goals, joining the aforementioned Ronaldo. Ronaldo holds the all-time record for career goals, which includes goals at the club and international level.

Messi has made 174 senior appearances for Argentina in his career, which is the all-time record for Argentina and fourth on the all-time list. Ronaldo’s 198 senior caps for Portugal is currently the all-time record.

At 102 goals, Messi is Argentina’s all-time leading scorer by a margin of 46 goals. Messi became Argentina’s all-time leading goalscorer in 2016 with a free-kick against the United States in the Copa América Centenario.