Lionel Messi passes 100 international goals with hat-trick against Curaçao

 

Image via @AFASeleccionEN Twitter

 

In a friendly victory over Curacao at home, Lionel Messi, the captain of Argentina, reached the milestone of 100 goals for his country by scoring his seventh hat-trick.

 

As he scored the game’s first goal in Santiago del Estero after 20 minutes, the 35-year-old attacker celebrated a significant milestone.

Before the break, he added two more to complete a quick treble.

Before Argentina paraded the World Cup trophy in front of more than 42,000 spectators, Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez also scored.

 

After defeating France in Qatar in December to win the World Cup on penalties, Argentina have played twice at home.

As part of the team’s World Cup homecoming trip, Messi scored his 800th career goal and 99th for Argentina in a 2-0 victory over Panama last week in Buenos Aires.

 

The on-loan midfielder from Villarreal who plays for Tottenham Hotspur, Giovani Lo Celso, passed to the Paris St-Germain striker, who then scored his third goal for his nation.

Ahead of setting up Lionel Messi for his second goal in the game, Fiorentina winger Nicolas Gonzalez headed in from four yards three minutes later after leaping over goalkeeper Eloy Room.

With a long-range shot, Fernandez made it 4-0, and in just the 37th, Lo Celso set up Messi for his third.

 

However, the night belonged to Messi, who extended his record as Argentina’s all-time leading scorer – Gabriel Batistuta is a distant second with 56 goals. Angel di Maria and Gonzalo Montiel completed the scoring in the second half.

He continues to rank third among all-time male international scorers, behind only Iran’s Ali Daei and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (122). (109).