The Barcelona star took his total for the country to 35 from 82 caps, one more than the iconic World Cup winner.

The 25-year-old, who has this week protested his innocence amid reports the Spanish tax authorities are investigating allegations of fraud against him and his father, is now level in second place in the scoring charts with Hernan Crespo, still 21 behind Gabriel Batistuta.

“Messi will keep on breaking records,” Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella said on the Argentinian Football Association website.u00a0Messi said: “The attitude of the group was very good and the team took the matchu00a0seriously.u00a0