Lionel Messi Ties Cristiano Ronaldo’s International Record
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will forever be intertwined in the annals of football history, and the latest milestone comes after Messi’s stunning hat-trick against Bolivia.
With his three-goal performance, Messi has now tied Ronaldo’s record for the most international hat-tricks in men’s football, both boasting an impressive tally of 10. The Inter Miami forward opened the scoring in the 19th minute, adding his second and third goals in the 84th and 86th minutes, which brought his overall goal count to 846.
Messi’s hat-trick against Bolivia marks the 9th nation he has scored three goals against, joining the ranks of Switzerland, Brazil, Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador, Haiti, Estonia, and Curacao. Meanwhile, Ronaldo has achieved similar feats against Northern Ireland, Sweden, Armenia, Andorra, the Faroe Islands, Spain, Switzerland, Lithuania (twice), and Luxembourg.
As it stands, the 37-year-old Messi trails only Ronaldo in the international goal-scoring chart, with Ronaldo sitting at 133 goals while Messi has 112. In addition to his hat-trick, Messi also provided two assists in Argentina’s comfortable 6-0 victory during their 2026 World Cup qualifier.
Despite a recent draw against Venezuela and a loss to Colombia in September, Argentina remains at the top of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings with 22 points. The defending world champions are set to face Paraguay in their next qualifier on November 14th.
