Messi breaks Pele’s record and conquers South America

The captain of the Argentine national team and the star of Paris Saint-Germain, Lionel Messi, scored a new historical number to be added to his records, after he topped the list of South American scorers with 79 goals, ahead of the Brazilian legend Pele.

Messi scored 3 goals to lead his country to victory over Bolivia in the World Cup qualifiers.

The Argentine managed to score the first goal before the quarter-hour mark, with a long-range shot.

🇦🇷 Hat-trick hero Lionel Messi (79 goals) celebrates the goal that saw him pass Pele (77) for most goals by a South American player in men's international football 👏@Argentina | #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Y41GU62mGh

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) September 10, 2021

To add the second goal after exchanging passes with Lautaro Martinez inside the penalty area, completing his hat-trick two minutes before the end.

By scoring this hat-trick, he surpassed the record of Brazilian legend Pele, with two goals, to become the best scorer in the history of South American teams, and this is the seventh hat-trick for Messi with his country.

Argentina occupies second place in the qualifiers behind Brazil.