In the 10th round of South American qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup South Africa, Argentina defeated Bolivia 6-0 in the 51st game of the Argentina national team's history, and Messi scored a hat-trick to confirm that there is no better opponent for him at international level.

Argentina were unstoppable as they thrashed Bolivia 6-0, with Messi scoring a hat-trick.

Bolivia were the team with whom the World Cup-winning captain scored the most goals: Messi scored 11 goals in 12 games. In the head-to-head between Messi and Bolivia, the Argentine also came out on top with 8 wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat.

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick in Argentina's 6-0 win over Bolivia to become the all-time leading scorer in the South American qualifiers.

Messi has 34 goals to his name, three ahead of his friend and former Barcelona teammate Luis Suárez, who has 29.

The top scorers in the qualifiers:

Lionel Messi (Argentina) 34 goals

Luis Suárez (Uruguay) 29 goals

Marcelo Moreno Martins (Bolivia) 22 goals

Alexis Sánchez (Chile) 20 goals

Hernán Crespo (Argentina) 19 goals