Lionel Messi scored his tenth worldwide hat-trick and had a hand in two extra targets as Argentina thrashed Bolivia 6-0 in South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in entrance of an adoring house crowd on the Monumental stadium on Tuesday.
Making solely his second worldwide look since recovering from an damage sustained on the Copa America in July, Messi capitalised on a mistake by defender Marcelo Suarez to open the scoring within the nineteenth minute.
Bolivia goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra made a few high quality saves to stop the hosts from extending their lead however he was crushed within the forty third minute when Lautaro Martinez scored from Messi’s fast cross.
Argentina made it 3-0 simply earlier than the break, with Messi establishing Julian Alvarez to attain.
Lionel Scaloni’s facet managed the second half and appeared like that they had prolonged their lead by means of Nicolas Otamendi, solely to see the objective disallowed for offside.
Substitute Thiago Almada did make it 4-0, nevertheless, scoring from Nahuel Molina’s cross within the seventieth minute with the venue remodeled into an Argentine get together.
Messi, 37, gave followers extra purpose to have fun within the closing moments, beating two Bolivia defenders earlier than unleashing a fierce shot previous Viscarra to attain his second.
Messi wanted solely two extra minutes to finish the hat-trick, becoming a member of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo with essentially the most in males’s internationals, the Argentine skipper scoring with a left-footed drive to take his tally to 112 targets for his nation.
“It is very nice to return right here, to really feel the love of the folks, it strikes me how they shout my title,” Messi stated.
“This drives me. Having fun with being glad the place I’m. Regardless of my age, once I’m right here, I really feel like a child as a result of I am comfy with this workforce. So long as I really feel good and may maintain performing the way in which I need, I will maintain having fun with it.”
Argentina are high of the standings with 22 factors, having returned to successful methods after dropping to Colombia final month and drawing with Venezuela final week.
The 2026 World Cup will likely be hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.
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