Messi becomes South America's all time top scorer

Argentine genius, Lionel Messi bags another record to his long-lasting legacy. Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick in Argentina's 3-0 win over Bolivia in the World Cup qualifiers. Due to this, Messi now surpasses Brazilian legend Pele and becomes South America's top goalscorer. Argentina hosted a robust Bolivia in their World Cup qualifiers. However, there was nothing stopping the Copa America champions as they beat Bolivia 3-0.

Also Read : Messi vs Ronaldo: The hat-trick battle

With the three goals on Thursday, Messi also surpassed former team-mate and Luis Suarez to become the leading scorer in CONMEBOL's men's World Cup qualifying. He now has 26 career goals in qualifying. The hat-trick also gives him eight career goals against Bolivia in 11 games. Making them the opponent the Argentine has been most prolific against.

Lionel Messi has scored his 79th international career goal for Argentina. Only Brazilian stars Marta and Cristiane have scored more overall international goals than the Argentina star now as he claimed his spot as the top men's goalscorer on the continent. Messi has been Argentina's most prolific scorer since 2016 when he surpassed Gabriel Batistuta.

What did Lionel Messi said after the match ?

"I really wanted to be able to enjoy it. I waited a long time for this, I looked for it and I dreamed of it. It's a unique moment for the way it happened after so much waiting." "There was no better way to celebrate this than to be here. My mother, my brothers are in the stands… They suffered a lot and today, they are here celebrating. I'm very happy."

Lionel Messi, said in an interview

Read Also : Messi vs Ronaldo: Most man of the match winners in football

Argentina will face Paraguay and Uruguay next month as Messi and company look to book their ticket to Qatar for the glorious World Cup.