Messi becomes third member of 100-goal club, hunts down Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi is making history one goal at a time. Argentina's captain is now part of the highly coveted 100-international goal club. A historic feat he only shares with two other players: Cristiano Ronaldo (122), who leads the list, and Iran's Ali Daei (109).

The Argentinian superstar was at the 99-goal mark before Tuesday night's friendly 7-0 rout of Curaçao. And it only took him one half to blast into the three-digit pantheon with a hat-trick at Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades.

Messi's three historic goals against Curaçao

Goal number 100 came from a beautiful assist by Giovani Lo Celso, Argentina's most missed player at Qatar 2022. The Villarreal midfielder set Messi up with a goal for the history books in the 20th minute.

Number 101 came just 13 minutes later, with a short pass from Fiorentina's Nicolás González. The attacker set Messi up with a short pass inside the box, leaving the phenom the blast it past Curaçao's Eloy Room.

Finally, Messi's hat-trick night was completed by another pass from Lo Celso, this time a long ball from half-field. The 35-year old PSG striker did the rest, running past Curaçao's defense and winning the one-on-one.

Top-10 international goalscorers of all time

1. Cristiano Ronaldo - 122 (Portugal)
2. Ali Daei - 109 (Iran)
3. Lionel Messi - 102 (Argentina)
4. Mokhtar Dahari - 89 (Malaysia)
5. Sunil Chhetri - 85 (India)
6. Ferenc Puskás - 84 (Hungary/Spain)
7. Ali Mabkhout - 80 (UAE)
8. Godfrey Chitalu - 79 (Zambia)
9. Hussein Saeed - 78 (Iraq)
10. Robert Lewandowski - 78 (Poland)

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