Lionel Messi winner puts Argentina on course for World Cup qualifying

Lionel Messi winner puts Argentina on course for World Cup qualifying

Lionel Messi gave world champions Argentina a successful start to the South American World Cup qualifiers with a 1-0 home win over Ecuador on Thursday.

Messi, who led Argentina to a third World Cup victory in Qatar in December, has not yet confirmed whether he will remain in the team until 2026, but has once again demonstrated the importance of moving forward in the future. Frustrating night for Leonelli Scaloni's team.

Lautaro Martínez took a free kick in the middle of the field, outside the Ecuadorian area, in the 78th minute and Messi finished it perfectly, his shot went over the barrier and he finished it perfectly to defeat Hernán Galíndez .

With that goal, Messi joins his former Barcelona teammate, Uruguayan Luis Suárez, as South America's all-time leading scorer with 29 goals each.

The Albiceleste dominated possession against Ecuador, who defended strongly and limited their attacks to occasional attacks.

Messi's first goal of the match came in the 16th minute when he found himself on the edge of the penalty area, but his side foot hit the side post.

Just before the break, Lautaro Martínez was close, saw Rodrigo De Paul and shot at his bishop.

Messi opened the scoring in the 69th minute, but his low shot was poorly received and easily stopped by Galíndez.

However, the 80,000 spectators at the Monumental stadium stood up before Messi could finish, and from that moment on Argentina calmly entered the match.

De Paulo, who stood out throughout the match, was replaced by Angelo Di María, but his shot went wide.

Then, at the end of the match, De Paul did much more than Galíndez when he shot at the near post.