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Lionel Messi Surpasses 100 Career Goals for Argentina

Argentina's forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his team's first goal - his 100th with the national team - during the friendly football match between Argentina and Curacao at the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero, in northern Argentina, on March 28, 2023. (AFP)
Argentina's forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his team's first goal - his 100th with the national team - during the friendly football match between Argentina and Curacao at the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero, in northern Argentina, on March 28, 2023. (AFP)
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Lionel Messi Surpasses 100 Career Goals for Argentina

Argentina's forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his team's first goal - his 100th with the national team - during the friendly football match between Argentina and Curacao at the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero, in northern Argentina, on March 28, 2023. (AFP)
Argentina's forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his team's first goal - his 100th with the national team - during the friendly football match between Argentina and Curacao at the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero, in northern Argentina, on March 28, 2023. (AFP)

Lionel Messi scored a hat trick and surpassed 100 career goals for Argentina with three in the first half of Tuesday's international friendly against Curacao.

The World Cup winners beat the Caribbean side 7-0 in their second match since clinching the trophy in December.

The 35-year-old Messi opened the scoring against Curacao in the 20th minute with a right-foot shot from the edge of the box to reach the 100-goal milestone.

Nico Gonzalez added another three minutes later with a header from close range.

Messi then scored his 101st for Argentina in the 33rd minute with a crossed shot to the right of the goalkeeper and his 102nd in the 37th after an easy run to score.

Two minutes earlier he had assisted Enzo Fernandez' blast from the edge of the box.

The Argentine captain trails only two players on the list of most goals scored for national teams in official matches; Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, with 122, and Iran’s Ali Daei, with 109.

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Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Saudi Team Highlights Cultural Heritage

Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
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Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Saudi Team Highlights Cultural Heritage

Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Chairman of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and his deputy, Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz, attended the opening ceremony of the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris.

Held outside the traditional stadiums for the first time in history, the ceremony featured a parade of the 206 participating countries on 100 boats traveling approximately 6 kilometers along the Seine River.

The Saudi show jumping team player, Ramzy Al-Duhami, and his colleague, the Saudi Taekwondo champion Dunya Aboutaleb, raised the Saudi flag at the opening of the world’s largest sporting event.

Al-Duhami expressed his pride in raising the Kingdom’s flag alongside his teammate, noting that it was a dream for any Saudi citizen. He wished success for the Saudi athletes in representing Saudi sports with distinction.

Aboutaleb, in turn, said he was honored to carry the Kingdom’s flag at the Olympic Games, stating: “I aspire to perform at a level that reflects the support and attention given to sports in the Kingdom.”

The Saudi athletes’ uniform was admired by the international media and the audience, who applauded the players the moment their boat appeared on the Seine River.

The designs for the opening ceremony were chosen through a national competition organized by the Saudi Arabian Olympic and Paralympic Committee, with the participation of designers from across the Kingdom.

Out of 128 competing designers, the chosen uniform by Saudi designer Alia Al-Salmi featured traditional men’s thobes and bishts and brightly patterned thobe al-nashal for women, symbolizing the athletes’ pride in their homeland and cultural roots.

Mashael Al-Ayed, 17, will be the first Saudi athlete to compete, taking to the pool for the 200 meters freestyle swimming event on July 28. Al-Ayed is the first female swimmer to represent Saudi Arabia at the Olympics.