Leo Messi is such a cheat code that he once scored a 30-yard pass for Argentina – it’s wild
Lionel Messi scrambled home his 98th goal for Argentina when he found the back of the net for the second time in the 2022 World Cup final.
Cristiano Ronaldo might be the kingpin of goalscoring in men’s international football, but his eternal rival is now only 20 strikes behind him after a Golden Ball-winning run at Qatar 2022.
In fact, the entire calendar year has been extraordinary for Messi with the great man boasting a jaw-dropping record of 18 goals in just 14 appearances for Argentina over the past 12 months.
That’s more than some great strikers score in their entire international career, so for Messi to rack up those numbers in 2022 alone is truly something to be heralded.
And it does, in turn, mean that it feels like an eternity ago that Messi graduated to 80 goals in the famous blue and white stripes against Uruguay back in October 2021.
Back in the heady days when Argentina were qualifying for the World Cup they would later win, Messi made international headlines for scoring one of the strangest goals of his entire career.
What is the strangest goal of Messi’s career?
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner opened the scoring at the Estadio Monumental in a convincing 3-0 win that also saw Rodrigo de Paul and Lautaro Martinez ripple the Uruguayan net.
It proved to be Messi’s final goal for Argentina before his scoring streak of 2022 and he didn’t even need to get a shot off in order to make it happen.
Yes, that’s right, the Paris Saint-Germain superstar actually defied Fernando Muslera and found the back of the net courtesy of a 30-yard pass.
In what proved to be a goal so baffling that everybody loved it, Messi can be seen nestling the ball into the bottom corner with a teasing outside-of-the-boot pass into the penalty area that evaded quite literally everybody with an interest in getting on the end of it.
With neither Nicolás González nor the Uruguayan defence managing even a touch, the strangest goal of Messi’s career was born and you can relieve the moment in all its anarchy down below:
How on earth did nobody get a touch on it? Madness.
And just in case you don’t believe us, kindly note that FIFA themselves credited Messi with the strike that forms a crucial part of his soon-to-be 100 goals for the South American champions.
Will Messi ever play for Argentina again?
We say ‘soon-to-be’ because Messi surprised the footballing world on the back of Argentina’s World Cup win by confirming that he would indeed continue to play for the national team.
According to the Guardian, the Barcelona icon said at the Lusail Iconic Stadium: “Obviously I wanted to complete my career with this – I can’t ask for more.
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Final – Argentina v France – Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar – December 18, 2022 Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates with the trophy and fans after winning the World Cup REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach© Provided by Give Me Sport
“Finishing my career this way is impressive. After this, what else? I have a Copa América, a World Cup, almost at the very end.
“I love football, what I do. I enjoy being part of the national team, the group. I want to enjoy a couple more matches being a world champion.”