Lautaro Martinez moved level with Argentina great Diego Maradona on 32 international goals when the Inter Milan captain scored the winner against Peru.
Martinez scored his first goal for his country against Iraq in 2018 and has netted at three Copa America tournaments.
But where does the striker now rank on the all-time list?
📰 Table Of Contents
32 goals – Diego Maradona
Some lists have the great Diego on 34, but two goals were in an unofficial friendly against a League of Ireland XI so do not count! Not that it matters – the great man scored arguably the greatest ever World Cup goal when he broke England hearts in 1986 and scored in the 1970s, 80s and 90s for Argentina.
35 goals – Hernan Crespo
Chelsea never saw the best of Crespo but he was prolific for club and country during his superb career. Scored a sensational goal for AC Milan in that Istanbul final but on the international stage his biggest moment was probably scoring three times at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
41 goals – Sergio Aguero
Manchester City’s all-time leading goalscorer was no slouch on the international scene either, of course.
GOAL! Aguero controls the ball impeccably, spins and fires in his first ever World Cup goal with a rocket of a left-foot shot pic.twitter.com/yKiHHEuf7r
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 16, 2018
Aguero wasn’t always first choice for his country during a stellar era for strikers but scored twice in Russia during the 2018 World Cup, as well as at four different Copa Americas.
56 goals – Gabriel Batistuta
Batigol! What a striker, whose goals to game ration of 0.72 is the best on the list. The Fiorentina legend scored his 56 goals in just 78 games, including hat-tricks at both the 1994 and 98 World Cups – and he got one in the penalty shoot-out win over England for good measure.
His total of 10 goals at the World Cup puts him level with Gary Lineker.
112 goals – Lionel Messi
A whopping 56 goals clear at the top of the list is the ridiculous Lionel Messi, who has 13 at the World Cup for starters.
IT HAD TO BE HIM!!!! 🙌
Argentina erupts as Lionel Messi converts from the spot to put his country in the lead… 🇦🇷#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/eekK0kSPPD
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) December 18, 2022
He scored his first international goal in 2006 and is still knocking them in. He has 10 hat-tricks for the national side, the most recent coming just a month ago. Absurd numbers!
