Lionel Messi passes milestone 100 goals for Argentina with hat-trick against Curacao in international friendly

Lionel Messi scored his 100th goal for Argentina as he netted a hat-trick in a 7-0 rout of Curacao in their international friendly.

The world champions took on the small Caribbean island nation in a friendly at the Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades with Messi coming into the match on 99 goals for his country.

Nicolas Gonzalez headed in a second minutes later before Messi curled one in to double his tally and net Argentina’s third before the half-hour mark.

Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez rifled in a fourth and Messi completed his hat-trick in just the 37th minute, finishing a one-on-one with the helpless Room to take his overall tally to 102 from 174 appearances.

Second-half goals from Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Montiel sealed an emphatic win but the day belonged to one man.

“We will never stop celebrating and I think it’s fair and deserved,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said afterwards.

“I hope there will be more [Messi goals], he deserves all the praise and it’s good that these goals had been on Argentine soil, that has a special value too.”

Messi becomes just the third male footballer to reach the 100-goal mark behind long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo on 122 and Iran legend Ali Daei on 109.

He also becomes the first male South American player to surpass 100 goals, and the second overall from the continent behind Marta, who scored 115 times for Brazil.