Argentinian national team captain Lionel Messi has achieved a new milestone in his career, finishing the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup as the top scorer, a feat he has accomplished for the first time in his career with his national team.

Messi has participated in 6 editions of the qualifiers, scoring 4 goals in the qualification journey for the 2010 World Cup, 10 goals on the road to Brazil 2014, 7 goals in the 2018 Russia qualifiers, and 7 goals in the Qatar 2022 journey, while he did not score in the 2006 Germany qualifiers. His closest previous attempts to claim the scoring title were in the 2014 qualifiers when he scored 10 goals, just one goal behind Uruguayan Luis Suárez.

With this achievement, Messi continues to make history with the 'Tango' team, setting his sights on reaching the 2026 World Cup with new ambitions.

Top scorers in the qualifiers

Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 8 goals

Luis Díaz (Colombia) – 7 goals

Miguel Terceros (Bolivia) – 7 goals

Salomón Rondón (Venezuela) – 6 goals

Enner Valencia (Ecuador) – 6 goals

Darwin Núñez (Uruguay) – 5 goals