Lionel Messi leads the South American World Cup qualifiers in goals.
Messi has eight goals in the 2026 South American World Cup qualifiers, the most out of any player. The 38 year old scored twice for Argentina in their 3-0 win against Venezuela and he overtook Luis Díaz who has seven goals with Colombia.
His first goal of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers was in a 1-0 win against Ecuador and he had both goals in Argentina’s 2-0 win against Peru. Messi scored three goals in Argentina’s 6-0 win against Bolivia and two against Venezuela.