With Argentina’s World Cup hopes under intense scrutiny, Messi latches onto Éver Banega’s perfect assist to break the deadlock against Nigeria, restoring belief on the biggest stage with his sixth World Cup goal and 617th of his career.
From a tight early angle at 0–0, Messi calmly lifts Iniesta’s pass over the Racing keeper with a delicate right-foot lob, breaking the deadlock for his 89th La Liga goal and the eventual winner.
Against his favored victims Racing Santander, Messi meets a bouncing ball with a crisp right-foot half-volley that skips through the crowded box to seal a 3–0 win and bring up La Liga goal number 129 in his career tally of 214.
From just inside the box, Messi calmly lifts a delicate right-footed lob over the onrushing Villarreal keeper to restore Barcelona’s lead, a composed winning finish that becomes La Liga goal number 97 of his career.