A brace against Bolivia in Copa America 2021 helped Messi go past Chhetri’s international goals tally…
A brace and an assist by Lionel Messi propelled Argentina to a convincing 4-1 win over Bolivia in their final group game at the Copa America 2021.
La Albiceleste qualified for the quarterfinal by topping their group with 10 points from four matches and they will now face Ecuador in the knock-out stage.
The two goals against Bolivia helped Lionel Messi to surpass India’s talismanic forward Sunil Chhetri’s goals tally (74) as he now has 75 goals in his kitty. The FC Barcelona star has so far scored three goals in four matches in the ongoing Copa America and provided two assists.
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The Argentine star is now the joint-ninth highest goalscorer in international football along with Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis, Japanese legend Kunishige Kamamoto and Iraq’s Bashar Abdullah.
The 34-year-old star also achieved another milestone as he played his 148th international match donning the Argentina jersey and is now the most-capped player in the country’s history. He surpassed his former Barcelona and Argentina teammate Javier Mascherano (147).
Last week, Messi’s closest rival Cristiano Ronaldo had equalled Iran’s Ali Daei’s record of highest international goals as he netted his 109th goal against France in Portugal’s final group game at Euro 2020.
The Portuguese star is still the highest goalscorer in the ongoing Euro but Portugal have been knocked out of the competition after losing 1-0 to Belgium in the round of 16.
Who are the top international goalscorers of all time?
| Position | Player | Country | Goals | Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ali Daei | Ira | 109 | 149 |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 109 | 178 |
| 3 | Mokhtar Dahari | Malaysia | 89 | 142 |
| 4 | Ferenc Puskas | Hungary | 84 | 89 |
| 5 | Godfrey Chitalu | Zambia | 79 | 108 |
| 6 | Hussain Saeed | Iraq | 78 | 137 |
| 7 | Pele | Brazil | 77 | 92 |
| 8 | Ali Mabkhout | UAE | 76 | 92 |
| 9 | Sandor Kocsis | Hungary | 75 | 68 |
| 9 | Kunishige Kamamoto | Japan | 75 | 76 |
| 9 | Bashar Abdullah | Iraq | 75 | 133 |
| 9 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 75 | 148 |
| 13 | Sunil Chhetri | India | 74 | 118 |
