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Lionel Messi's wife Antonella Roccuzzo has praised her husband as "the greatest of all time" following his hat-trick heroics for Argentina. Messi scored thrice and set up two more as La Albiceleste thrashed Bolivia 6-0 in their CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup Qualifiers on Tuesday, October 15.
The Inter Miami superstar produced a sublime performance, leading his side to an emphatic victory. Messi opened the scoring in the 19th minute, before setting up Lautaro Martinez (43') and Julian Alvarez (45+3') to give Argentina a comfortable 3-0 lead at halftime.
Thiago Almada added a fourth for the reigning world champion in the 70th minute. However, the show was not over as Messi took control of the game towards the end. The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner scored two more goals in two minutes (84', 86') to cap a scintillating performance as he went home with the match ball.
Messi's wife Antonella Rocuzzo was in awe of her husband's performance. After the match, she took to her Instagram where she posted a story of the Argentine skipper celebrating one of his goals with the caption:
"The greatest of all time."
Lionel Messi has recorded six goal involvements since returning to the national team after his injury during the 2024 Copa America final. He previously provided the assist for Nicolas Otamendi's goal in Argentina's 1-1 draw with Venezuela on Thursday, October 10.
Lionel Messi records 10th hat-trick with Argentina
Lionel Messi's three-goal show against Bolivia marks his 10th hat-trick of his international career. This was his second hat-trick against Bolivia, previously doing so in a qualifying match for the 2022 World Cup.
The Argentine icon has now scored 58 hat-tricks for club and country. Also, he is Argentina's record goalscorer with 112 goals and 60 assists in 187 games. It is pertinent to note that Messi's arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo also has 10 hat-tricks with Portugal.
With this latest victory over Bolivia, Argentina consolidate their lead in the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifier standings. They have 22 points after 10 matches, three points ahead of Colombia in second place.
