Lionel Messi scored his seventh international hat-trick as Argentina thrashed Curacao 7-0 in a home friendly. As sensational as that sounds, the hat-trick wasn't the most sensational feat; the real deal was Messi passing the 100 international goals mark; now with 102 international goals. He is now the third player in history to achieve that feat. The first two are Cristiano Ronaldo with 122 goals and Iran's Ali Daei with 109 goals. Messi is the first South American male player to hit the 100 international goals mark. Brazil's Marta holds the record for females with 109 international goals. It only took Messi one half to net all three goals at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades. His first came from a Giovani Lo Celso assist, in the 20th minute; Messi's second was scored 13 minutes later, assisted by Fiorentina's Nicolas Gonzalez. Argentina's second goal was scored by Gonzalez. Lo Celso once more gave Messi a pass for his third goal. Messi also set up Enzo Fern
35-year-old PSG/Argentina Lionel Messi was crowned 2022 Best FIFA Men's Player at the Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 ceremony held in Paris on Monday, February 27. This is the second time Messi is winning the award since its inception in 2016, and now joins Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski as two-time winners. French duo Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema came second and third respectively. Mbappe for his World Cup heroics being top scorer and first person to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final since Sir Geoff Hurst; Benzema thanks to his key role in guiding Real Madrid to Champions League victory. Messi won the award thanks to his Qatar World Cup glory, in addition to scoring 18 goals and recording six assists on international level. On receiving the award, he said: “I’d like to express thanks to my team-mates, to Scaloni [Argentina coach] and without them I wouldn’t be here. My coach, he is part of this victory as well. I’d like to pay tribute to all of my team-mates. I
