“Xavi’s pass sparks Messi’s hat-trick clincher against Ajax, rounding off a dominant 4–0 Champions League group win and pushing him further up his all-time European scoring charts with career goal 359 and his 62nd in the competition.”
Messi sails past 500 career goal contributions by dismantling Ajax with a Champions League hat-trick, including a trademark free-kick, setting the tone for Barcelona’s European campaign at the height of his peak years.
With Argentina trailing 1–0 in a must-win World Cup qualifier in Quito, Messi latches onto Ángel Di María’s early pass to level the score and ignite the hat-trick that drags his country back toward Russia, bringing up career goal 580 in the process.
In a do-or-die World Cup qualifier away to Ecuador, Messi completes his hat-trick from an Otamendi assist to turn Argentina’s once-precarious campaign into a 3–1 lead, pushing them firmly toward Russia and adding another strike to his towering World Cup qualifying tally.
With Argentina’s World Cup hopes hanging in the balance in Quito, Messi restores a 2–1 lead over Ecuador on the way to a rescue hat-trick, his second strike of the night and 20th goal in World Cup qualifiers.
In a Champions League quarter-final with Barcelona trailing Arsenal, Messi’s first strike instantly drags Barça level and ignites the four-goal masterclass that turns this night into his iconic Camp Nou ‘poker’, capped as career goal No.129 and his 22nd in the competition.