Messi sets a new record in 152 years of football history

Messi now holds the record for the most goal contributions in football history. According to FIFA, the first official match took place between Scotland and England in 1872. Since then, the world of football has spanned 152 years. And today, in the Argentina-Bolivia match, Messi surpassed all previous records for goal contributions.

In his career, he has scored 846 goals and provided 377 assists. In total, the Argentine superstar has been involved in 1,223 goals—making this the highest in official matches.

By scoring 3 goals and providing 2 assists, Lionel Messi revived an incident from 15 years ago. The last time a player recorded a hat-trick and 2 assists in the same CONMEBOL qualifying match was Joaquín Botero. In 2009, this Bolivian star did something similar against Argentina.

Messi was present in that match in La Paz. After today's game, Messi discussed those old memories but made it clear that he did not see this match as a form of revenge for the game 15 years ago. Rather, his main focus is enjoying these matches towards the end of his career. He also mentioned how much he relished hearing the chants of his name from the crowd.

However, Messi's biggest record came through his hat-trick. Scoring the 58th hat-trick of his career, Lionel Messi achieved his 10th hat-trick wearing the national team jersey. Messi now holds the record for the most hat-tricks for a national team. However, he shares this record with one other person—none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. The two footballing giants now jointly hold the record for the most national team hat-tricks.

In another record, Messi stands alone at the top. The 37-year-old legend became the first player in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying history to score three hat-tricks. He first achieved this against Ecuador in 2016, then against Bolivia in 2021, and once again against the same opponent in 2024, making this record his own.