The South American qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup has officially ended and the Golden Boot award belongs to Messi. The Argentine superstar has surpassed fierce competitors such as Luis Diaz and Miguel Terceros to win this prestigious individual title.
Messi scored decisively in Argentina's defeat of Venezuela in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America (Photo: Getty).
Although he did not play with the Argentina team in the final matches, Messi still had 8 goals, one more than Luis Diaz (Colombia) and Miguel Terceros (Bolivia).
Before the final match, Luis Diaz seemed to be able to surpass Messi when he held the record with 7 goals. However, the former Liverpool player could not score in Colombia's 6-3 victory over Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Miguel Terceros rose strongly when scoring from the penalty spot, helping Bolivia unexpectedly defeat Brazil 1-0. However, all the efforts of the opponents were not enough to prevent Lionel Messi from maintaining this position.
At the age of 38, Lionel Messi has written a new milestone in his illustrious career. After participating in 6 World Cup qualifying campaigns, the captain of Argentina finally became the top scorer.
Despite his impressive achievements of 4 goals (2010), 10 goals (2014), 7 goals (2018) and 7 goals (2022), Messi has yet to top the list of top scorers in a World Cup qualifier. It was not until the final qualifying round of his career that he finally got this meaningful individual title.
Messi and the Argentina team excellently lead the rankings of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America (Photo: FIFA).
Before Messi was crowned, the title of top scorer in the South American World Cup qualifiers belonged to many stars. Former Brazilian striker Ronaldo won the award in 2006 (10 goals), followed by Humberto Suazo in 2010 (10 goals), Luis Suarez (11 goals, 2014), Edinson Cavani (10 goals, 2018) and most recently Marcelo Moreno (10 goals, 2022).
The man who is said to hold the record for most goals scored in a single South American World Cup qualifier is the legendary Ivan Zamorano of the Chilean national team. With 12 goals in the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, Zamorano's record has yet to be broken by any player.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/messi-duoc-vinh-danh-sau-khi-ket-thuc-vong-loai-world-cup-2026-cua-nam-my-20250911075251561.htm
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