Lionel Messi scored five goals for Argentina for the first time in a 5-0 rout of Estonia in a friendly match in Spain on Sunday, becoming the fourth-highest scorer for a national team in men’s soccer.
Messi scored twice in the first half, including from a penalty kick, and three times after the interval to reach 86 international goals. He moved past the 84 goals of former Hungary great Ferenc Puskas.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list with 117 goals — including two on Sunday as Portugal routed Switzerland 4-0 in the Nations League — followed by Iran’s Ali Daei with 109 and Mokhtar Dahari of Malaysia with 89.
Messi had never scored five times before for Argentina at senior level. He scored five goals with Barcelona in a 7-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16 of the 2011-12 Champions League.
The 34-year-old Messi had two assists last week when Argentina defeated Italy 3-0 in the first Finalissima meeting of the South American and European champions. He last year helped Argentina win the Copa América for his first major title with the national team.
Argentina is unbeaten in its last 33 matches.
The match was played at Osasuna’s stadium.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
Close Story
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsAzi is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
