10 mindblowing Lionel Messi stats after his FIVE goals against Estonia

Lionel Messi of Argentina stands on during the Conmebol – UEFA Cup of Champions Finalissima between Italy and Argentina at Wembley Stadium, London on Wednesday 1st June 2022. Credit: PA Images

Lionel Messi scored all five of Argentina’s goals in their 5-0 victory against Estonia, giving us yet another reminder that he’s one of the greatest players in the history of the game.

Lionel Scaloni’s men absolutely demolished Estonia at the Estadio El Sadar in Pamplona, registering 79%, 24 shots and 10 on target.

“The extraordinary Lionel Messi has scored all five of Argentina’s goals tonight,” tweeted former Barcelona striker Gary Lineker after the final whistle.

“Astonishingly, it’s not his goal scoring that elevates him from the other greats. He’s also as good a passer and dribbler as anyone that’s ever played the game. The Messiah.”

Copa America champions Argentina are now unbeaten in 33 matches. With Messi in this kind of form, they surely have to be considered contenders to win the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

The only major honour that Messi has failed to win, lifting the World Cup would be the perfect swansong for the Argentinian, who turns 35 this summer and has admitted he doesn’t know what the future holds beyond Qatar.

“I don’t know what I will do after the World Cup,” Messi told reporters after the Finalissima win. “I am thinking about what is coming. After Qatar, I will have to reassess many things.

“Let’s hope these [matches] go the best way possible. But for sure after the World Cup many things will change.”

One thing’s for sure, despite a relatively underwhelming debut season at PSG, Messi is not finished yet. Here are 10 mindblowing stats after his latest masterclass.

– In 76 minutes against Estonia, Messi scored one fewer goal than he managed for PSG in the entirety of the 2021-22 Ligue 1 campaign – where he scored six goals in 26 appearances (2153 minutes).

– Messi is the first player in the history of the Argentinian national team to score five goals in one game.

– It was also the first time he’s ever scored four goals in one game for La Albiceleste. This was the eighth time he’s scored a hat-trick for the national team, though, and his 56th career hat-trick – which places him four behind long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

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– This was the second time in Messi’s career that he’s scored five goals in one game. The last time was in a 7-1 Champions League victory against Bayer Leverkusen back in March 2012.

– With his latest five-goal haul, Messi has now surpassed Hungary legend Ferenc Puskas for international goals. Only Malaysia’s Mokhtar Dahari, Iran’s Ali Daei and Portugal’s Ronaldo have scored more national team goals than Messi.

– The 34-year-old has scored 10 goals in his last 10 appearances for Argentina, a run that also included a hat-trick against Bolivia and a man-of-the-match display in the Finalissima against Italy.

– Messi has extended his lead as the all-time top goalscorer for South American nations. He’s now nine ahead of Pele’s total of 77 goals for Brazil – the previous record.

– He’s also now moved ahead of Pele for total career goals – 769 to the Brazilian icon’s 767.

– The Argentinian’s 86 international goals have come in 162 appearances. That’s a rate of 0.53 goals per game – in other words, roughly one goal every two games.

– No player in the history of football has more goals and assists than Messi. He’s now reached the milestone of 1100 direct goal contributions – 769 goals and 331 assists in 974 appearances for club and country. To put that stat in context, a player would need to register 50 goals and assists for 22 consecutive seasons just to match that number.

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