Lionel Messi's double for Paris Saint-Germain against Club Brugge moved him past Pele's official goal tally and is only behind Cristiano Ronaldo as the highest scoring South American footballer of all moment. Lionel Messi has overtaken Pele as the highest scoring South American footballer of all time by scoring twice for PSG against Club Brugge on Tuesday evening, moving him past Pele's official goal tally and behind only Cristiano Ronaldo as the highest scoring South American footballer
PSG's Lionel Messi scored twice against Club Brugge
Mauricio Pochettino's side won 4-1 thanks to the Argentine superstar's third and fourth goals.
Messi's first goal of the night was his 757th in his career, tying him with Pele for the most goals in a single season. He then added a penalty in the second half to bring his total to 758.
PSG's attacker is now the second highest scorer in club history, behind Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 801 goals in his career.
Last week, Ronaldo scored his 800th and 801st goals for Real Madrid against Arsenal, giving him a total of 686 club goals and 115 international goals for Portugal, an all-time high.
Real Madrid's 36-year-old striker has 450 goals to his name, 130 for Manchester United, 101 for Juventus, and five for Sporting Lisbon.
Messi set a club record with 672 goals for Barcelona, which was more than the second, third, and fourth most scorers combined.
Along with his 80 goals for Argentina, the 34-year-old forward has added six goals in 14 games for PSG, who he joined this summer.
The number of goals scored by Brazilian legend Pele is a point of dispute, with both him and his old team Santos refusing to admit that Ronaldo had surpassed his total earlier this year.
"Some observers argue that so many of these 448 goals scored in friendly matches were against inferior opponents, such as tiny or regional teams," Santos said in a statement in January.
"Despite this, the games were played in official uniforms, according to official rules, and with a score sheet."
Pele essentially co-signed this statement as he updated his Instagram biography, which showed his all-time goal scoring record as 1,283, to include goals for Santos, Brazil, and the New York Cosmos.
While Pele scored 1,283 goals throughout his career, 526 of them were scored in unofficial friendlies and tour games, including matches with the Sixth Coast Guard in the military tournament.
Pele scored 757 goals in 812 games during his career, a considerably higher goal-per-game tally than either Ronaldo or Messi.
The former Brazil superstar notably never played for a European club, spending 18 years with South American powerhouse Santos before finishing his career with New York Cosmos for the final two years of his career.
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