Argentine captain and star Lionel Messi crossed the 100-goal barrier with his country by scoring a hat-trick in a landslide victory over submerged Curaçao by 7-0 on Tuesday in Santiago del Estero in an international friendly football match, the second for the Albiceleste at home, after winning the world title in Qatar.
Seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, Messi scored his hat-trick in 20 minutes, taking his tally of international goals to 102.
It is Messi's seventh hat-trick with his country, and he scored his first international goal 17 years ago, specifically in March 2006 when Argentina lost to Croatia 3-2 in a friendly match.
Messi consolidated his position in third place in the list of historical scorers in the world, behind his Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo (122) and Iranian Ali Daei (109).
Messi also moved away from his closest pursuers on the list of historic scorers for Argentina, Gabriel Batsiuta (56 goals) and Sergio Aguero (41).
Messi, 35, opened the scoring in the 20th minute, and Italian Fiorentina striker Nicholas Gonzalez scored the second three minutes later, before the "flea" added his second and third personal goal for his country in the 33rd minute.
Chelsea midfielder Ansu Fernandez added the fourth goal after two minutes (35), which is the same time that the French star Paris Saint-Germain needed by scoring the third and fifth personal goal for Argentina (37), ending the first half festival.
Juventus winger Angel Di Maria added the sixth goal from a penalty kick (78), and Seville defender Goncalo Montiel concluded the festival with the seventh goal (87).
Argentina played the second match since winning the World Cup for the third time in its history when it beat France 4-2 on penalties in the final, which ended in an exciting 3-3 draw in regular and extra time.
Argentina beat Panama on Thursday with a clean double, including Messi's second goal in the 89th minute, raising his tally of international goals to 99.