challenges Ronaldo and Daei, Messi raised his international goals tally to 106 goals

Lionel Messi raised his international goals tally to 106 goals, bringing him close to second place on the list of top international scorers, after scoring both goals in Argentina’s victory over Peru (2-0) in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The 36-year-old opened the scoring after about half an hour with a beautiful and smart shot. Messi scored twice in Argentina’s 2-0 win at Peru in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday, playing the entire match for his national team. The 36-year-old appeared fit after he was sidelined for several matches with his club Inter Miami because of muscular pain. Also Tuesday, Brazil — the archrival of the defending World Cup champion — took two serious blows at Uruguay. Brazil lost 2-0 to the hosts, its first defeat in 37 World Cup qualifying matches, and saw its star Neymar leave the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo on crutches with a left knee injury. Elsewhere, Venezuela beat Chile 3-0. Yeferson Soteldo opened the scoring shortly before the break, Salomón Rondón added a goal in the 72nd minute, and Darwin Machis scored seven minutes later. Last week, Venezuela earlier had a 1-1 draw against Brazil. Ecuador and Colombia had a scoreless draw, and Paraguay beat Bolivia 1-0 on Antonio Sanabria’s goal in the 69th minute.