World Cup Qualifiers

How many goals does Lionel Messi need to break Pelé's South American goal record?

Lionel Messi has Pelé's South American goal record on sight. He will play with Argentina on Thursday against Bolivia and has the chance of matching the Brazilian legend. Here, check out how many goals he needs.

Lionel Messi of Argentina (Getty).
Lionel Messi of Argentina (Getty).

After the suspension of the match between Brazil and Argentina, La Albiceleste will face Bolivia in Buenos Aires for World Cup Qualifiers and Lionel Messi has the chance to make history. The PSG player has Pelé’s South American goal record on sight and he could break it on Thursday.

Messi, 34, is already the Argentina’s national team all-time top scorer with 76 goals. In the Copa America 2021, played in between June and July, Messi scored four times and ended up being the top scorer of the tournament also.

Despite Argentina winning the tournament, Lionel Messi couldn’t score in the final. And he also missed the goal in the 3-1 victory against Venezuela. Against Bolivia, Messi has another chance to chase Pele’s record. Here, check out how many goals he needs.

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Messi could break Pelé’s South American goal record

Messi is just one goal away from matching Pelé to become the highest goalscorer ever for a South American country. The Brazilian legend scored 77 international goals in 151 matches. The Argentine star has 76 goals in 151 matches.

The Argentinealready broke Pelé’s record to become the all-time leading scorer with one club last December, when he scored his 644 goal with Barcelona. Messi left the Catalan club with 672 goals in total.

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Next on the list of top scorers in South America are his teammateNeymar (Brazil, 68) and his former Barca colleague Luis Suárez (Uruguay, 63).However, when it comes to who is the international top scorer, that’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 111 goals in 180 games.

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