Author: Soorya G
World Cup winner and legendary Argentine striker Lionel Messi began his journey in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup by reaching a remarkable milestone. He has already scored 31 goals in South American qualifying for the World Cup, overtaking Luis Suárez to become the tournament’s all-time top scorer. The Argentine striker contributed two goals during the first half against Peru in Lima, firmly positioning himself at the top of the tournament’s scoring charts.
Before the start of the current qualifying campaign, the record for the most goals in South American qualifying for the World Cup was held by Luis Suárez. Suárez and Messi have shared a close relationship since their time together at Barcelona. Suárez, who currently plays for Brazilian side Grêmio, was excluded from the Uruguayan team by Marcelo Bielsa, as was veteran Edinson Cavani. During a glittering career with the national team, Suárez scored 29 goals in CONMEBOL qualifying in 62 appearances. After scoring two goals, Messi now has 31 goals in 63 games.
Surprisingly, despite being the all-time top scorer in South American qualifying for the World Cup, Messi has never finished an edition as the top scorer. His best performance was during the 2014 World Cup campaign, when he scored 10 goals, while Suárez surpassed him with 11 goals.
In the previous edition of the World Cup qualifiers, the Argentine maestro contributed seven goals. The last player from his national team to win the tournament’s top scorer title was Hernán Crespo, in 2002, with 10 goals, equal with Ecuador’s Agustin Delgado.
Messi also has the distinction of being the top scorer for any South American national team, with 106 goals in 178 appearances for Argentina. He also became the player with the most appearances at the World Cup in Qatar last year, playing 26 games in five editions of the tournament. In August, the soccer virtuoso set a new milestone by amassing the most titles in the history of the sport, with a total of 42 titles to his name.