Lionel Messi starred with a hat-trick—his first in 2024 for club and country—to inch toward Cristiano Ronaldo as Argentina thumped Bolivia 6-0 in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Tuesday (October 15).
Messi, 37, opened the scoring on the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires inside 17 minutes before Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez’s moves put the hosts’ dreams to the best at halftime.
The reigning global champions didn’t ease off after the wreck, with Thiago Almada scoring within the 69th minute earlier than Messi netted two times late on to finish his 58th professional hat-trick for the club and the U.S. He’s now 8 at the back of his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who has had 3 hat-hints in 2024.
The win keeps Argentina 3 factors clear of 2nd-placed Colombia (19) after 10 games inside the CONMEBOL 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier standings, having been held to a 1-1 draw at Venezuela 4 days in advance.
Apart from his hat-trick, Messi additionally supplied two assists at night as he improved to 846 professional goals, 60 behind Ronaldo, who drew a blank in Portugal’s goalless draw at Scotland in the UEFA Nations League on Tuesday.
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A detailed breakdown of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s hat-tricks for club and country
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are certainly the nicest players—specifically goalscorers—to have graced the beautiful game. The duo is still going strong despite rising to the scene a long time ago.
Ronaldo’s sixty-six career hat-hints are the maximum by using a lively player, with a document 10 of them coming in worldwide soccer with Portugal, a mark Messi tied on Tuesday towards Bolivia.
The 2 legends have struck a document 8 hat-tricks in the UEFA Champions League, with Messi doing so for a single club (Barcelona). The Argentine is also the La Liga hat-trick leader with 36, with Ronaldo a near 2d with 34.
Together with his attempt against Bolivia, Messi has now scored a hat-trick for the 16th straight calendar month, one better than Ronaldo, who has completed so each year seeing that 2010. Remarkably, both legends have struck a career-great 9 hat-tricks in a calendar year, with Ronaldo doing so in 2011 and Messi following fit a year later.
But Ronaldo has considered that he had three years with a minimum of seven hat-hints for the club and the U.S. (8, 8, 7), while Messi hasn’t long past beyond 5 (twice: 2014, 2018).
