Argentine star Lionel Messi is close to overtaking Brazilian legend Pele in the list of top scorers in international football matches.
The day before yesterday, Messi scored the goal of Argentina's 1-0 victory over Ecuador, at the start of the South American qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, to raise his tally to 71 goals in 139 matches with his country.
Messi is the historical goal scorer for Argentina since Gabriel Batistuta surpassed 54 goals in 2016, but he faces a greater challenge by surpassing many world stars to reach a better position among the world's top scorer.
And Messi is ready for the first important step on the road to catching up with his opponent Cristiano Ronaldo, as he is only 6 goals away from Pele, who scored 77 international goals with the Brazilian national team, a relatively easy task that will make Messi the best international scorer in South America.
Former Iranian striker Ali Daei tops the list of top international scorers with 109 goals, followed by Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo with 101 goals, and former Hungarian striker Puskas 84 goals.
Former Zambian striker Godfrey Chitalo is fourth on the list with 79 goals, followed by Iraqi star Hussein Saeed, fifth, with 78 goals, then Pele with 77 goals.