Messi cuts inside from the right and unleashes a left‑footed shot from the right side of the box that flashes just wide to the left. It’s Argentina’s first real warning to the Venezuelan defense.

Messi threads a perfectly weighted pass into the area for Gonzalo Higuaín, who finishes with a right‑footed shot from the center of the box to make it 1–0 for Argentina.

From outside the box, Messi tries his luck with a left‑footed effort that drifts wide to the left. He finds space but can’t quite hit the target.

Messi strikes a powerful left‑footed shot from outside the box, forcing the goalkeeper into a save high in the top left corner. Venezuela just manages to turn away his long‑range effort.

Messi times his run perfectly into the box and calmly slots a left‑footed shot into the bottom right corner from the center of the area, extending Argentina’s lead to 3–0 after a neat assist from Nicolás Gaitán.

Messi combines in the area and lays the ball off for Érik Lamela, who fires a right‑footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom left corner to make it 4–1 for Argentina.

From long range outside the box, Messi lets fly with another left‑footed strike that goes just wide, narrowly missing the target. Even late in the match, he keeps testing Venezuela from distance.