The Argentine national team closed its soccer year with a comfortable victory over Angola and, as usual, with Lionel Messi as the protagonist.
The friendly not only meant a new victory on the road to the 2026 World Cup, but also a historic occasion, as for the first time, the Argentine star scored on African soil, while adding a couple more goal contributions (a goal and an assist) to the long list. Just another day at the office for Leo.
Goals and highlights of Angola vs Argentina on the road to the 2026 World Cup
Argentina traveled to Africa to play its last friendly of 2025 against Angola, a modest opponent that nevertheless attracted thousands of spectators for one obvious reason: Lionel Messi
The Angolan federation shelled out around $12 million to secure the presence of the Albiceleste, a figure that demonstrates the global impact of the world champion.
In sporting terms, the match was controlled by Argentina, who managed their efforts and still managed to win clearly. Although the final score was 2-0, the Albiceleste dominated throughout the 90 minutes.
The first goal came thanks to Lautaro Martinez, who took advantage of a through ball from Messi from the right flank to go one-on-one with the home defense. With power and a cross shot, the Inter Milan striker beat the Angolan goalkeeper, scoring the 1-0 in a first half that Argentina handled without any problems.
This was Messi’s first goal in Africa
The second half brought the most eagerly awaited moment: Lionel Messi’s goal. In the 81st minute, after a feint by Lautaro that left the opposing defense out of position, the Argentine received the ball inside the area and finished with his left foot to seal the 2-0 victory. It was the first time Messi scored on the African continent.
Messi reaches 1,296 goal contributions
With this goal, Lionel Messi finished 2025 with 1,296 goal contributions throughout his career between club and country. The figure combines 895 goals and 401 assists in 1,134 games, a record never achieved by any other player in the history of soccer.
The Argentine captain also reached 115 goals with the Argentine national team, remaining as the country’s all-time top scorer and approaching a record that will be difficult to surpass in the future. Every Messi match not only breaks previous statistics, but also expands the dimension of his legacy in world football.
How many official goals does Messi have?
If that were not enough, with this goal the Argentine star reaches 895 goals, scored in 1134 matches, so everything suggests that Messi will have no problem reaching 900 official goals and although thinking about a thousand seems difficult, for Leo there seems to be no impossible.
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