The 38-year-old superstar scored 8 goals for Argentina, one more than Luis Diaz (Colombia) and Miguel Terceros (Bolivia).

Before the final round of matches, Diaz had the chance to overtake Messi, but failed to score even though Colombia defeated Venezuela 6-0. Meanwhile, Terceros managed to join the top scorers with a decisive penalty that secured Bolivia's 1-0 victory against Brazil. Ultimately, Messi retained the significant albeit minor accolade of top scorer in the South American qualifiers.

Messi chips the ball to score the opening goal as Argentina defeats Venezuela in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers at Monumental Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina on the evening of 4/9/2025. Photo: *Clarin*

Messi has participated in 6 World Cup qualifying campaigns, starting with the 2006 edition. He didn't score in the three matches he played then. Since then, Messi has consistently found the net, with 4 goals in the 2010 qualifiers, 10 in 2014, 7 in 2018, and 7 for 2022. However, it wasn't until his final qualifying campaign that the Argentinian captain topped the scoring charts.

"Messi is accustomed to breaking records, but this award has only now been achieved," Argentinian newspaper *Clarin* commented. "He can now say he's been a top scorer in the qualifiers, alongside his other impressive individual and team honors."

In previous qualifying campaigns, the top scorer award went to Ronaldo (10 goals, 2006), Humberto Suazo (10, 2010), Luis Suarez (11, 2014), Edinson Cavani (10, 2018), and Marcelo Moreno (10, 2022).

A total of 183 goals were scored in the 90 matches of this South American qualifying campaign, averaging 2.03 goals per game. Messi contributed 8 goals in 12 matches, accounting for over 20% of Argentina's goals, despite playing only 67% of the maximum possible games.

Messi also holds the record for most goals in South American World Cup qualifiers with 36, though the global record is currently shared by Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala) with 39.

Of course, this award or record cannot compare to Messi's extensive career collection, which includes 8 Ballon d'Ors, 8 FIFA Best Player awards, 6 European Golden Boots, 6 Champions League top scorer awards, and two World Cup Golden Balls.

Hoang An (*Clarin*)