LIONEL MESSI
Lionel Messi breaks fastest goal record in Argentina’s win over Australia
The new Inter Miami star played the full 90 minutes of the game, his last before moving to the United States and MLS.
Just when we didn’t think there were any records left for Lionel Messi to break, he’s only gone and done it again. In his last match before becoming an Inter Miami player, the Argentina captain wasted little time in setting his country on the road to a 2-0 victory in their friendly against Australia in Beijing, China.
Messi scores against Australia in 80 seconds
Inside the first 90 seconds of the match, Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández won possession in the Socceroos’ half from Matthew Leckie, drove forward and picked out Messi, who characteristically took a couple of touches to find the perfect angle before curling in the kind of pinpoint left-footed strike that we must’ve seen at least 100 times before.
The goal was clocked at 80 seconds into the game, which makes it the fastest the former Barcelona star has scored in his entire career. And it’s not even that close, with his previous record being 126 seconds in a Champions League round-of-16 tie for the Catalans against Chelsea in 2018.
When will Messi make his Inter Miami debut?
Substitue Germán Pezzella scored Argentina second goal as they secured a comfortable victory Beijing, from where they will travel to Jakarta to face Indonesia on Monday. Messi played the full 90 minutes against Australia but will not play for Lionel Scaloni’s side in their second friendly of the week, instead taking some time off before making the move to the United States, with his Inter Miami debut expected to come in the Leagues Cup in July, possibly against Liga MX side Cruz Azul.
Messi’s World Cup career probably over
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner stated this week that it is highly likely we have seen the last of him in the World Cup, saying that he “doesn’t think” he’ll play when Argentina defend their trophy in the 2026 tournament in the US, Mexico and Canada.