Lionel Messi nets hat-trick, surpasses 100 international goals: Key stats
Football superstar Lionel Messi smashed a hat-trick in a friendly against minnows Curacao, which is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Messi's three goals in Argentina's 7-0 win saw him become the 3rd player in men's international football to smash 100-plus goals. Besides Messi's hat-trick, Nicolas Gonzalez, Enzo Fernandez, Angel Di Maria, and Gonzalo Montiel scored for Argentina.
102 goals for Messi
Messi scored his hat-trick in the first half as Argentina had a 5-0 cushion at the break. Messi has raced to 102 international goals for Argentina. He is now only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (122) and former Iran legend Ali Daei (109). Among active players, Sunil Chhetri of India is next behind Messi in terms of international goals (85).
Breaking down Messi's international goals
In 53 friendly matches, Messi has smashed 48 goals, including the three versus Curacao. He has scored 13 goals in 34 Copa America matches. At the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Messi has smashed 28 goals in 60 games. Meanwhile, in 26 FIFA World Cup games, Messi has 13 goals under his belt.
9th international hat-trick for Messi
Messi has smashed his 9th international hat-trick. Before this, his previous hat-trick came against Estonia in a friendly encounter last year. Argentina won the match 5-0 and Messi scored all five.
Messi has scored against 37 different nations
Messi has scored his international goals against 37 different nations with Curacao now adding to the list. Notably, his best return has come against Bolivia (8). He also has six goals each versus Ecuador and Uruguay (6).
Messi became the 2nd player with 800 career goals
Recently, Messi became just the second player after Ronaldo to smash 800 career goals. He now has 803 goals for club and country. Ronaldo, who has netted 832 goals so far, is the only player ahead of the Argentina skipper in terms of more goals. 122 of these goals have been recorded while representing his national team Portugal.
