Lionel Messi became the player with the most assists in international football as he set up his Argentina team-mates twice in their 6-0 rout of Puerto Rico in a friendly. 

Messi, who missed Argentina's previous triumph against Venezuela to play for Inter Miami, returned to the Albiceleste with a bang at Chase Stadium. 

Argentina took the lead in the 14th minute when Alexis Mac Allister headed Nico Gonzalez's bouncing cross home after Messi had rattled the crossbar just seconds earlier. 

Lionel Scaloni's side went further clear nine minutes later through Gonzalo Montiel, who picked out the bottom-left corner with a volley following Messi's delicate chip into the box. 

Mac Allister then put the result beyond doubt before half-time, calmly slotting the ball beyond Sebastian Cutler after being set up by Jose Lopez inside the penalty area. 

Argentina's dominance continued after the break, but they had to wait until the 64th minute to get their fourth when Steven Echevarria diverted Gonzalez's shot into his own net.

And after being introduced into the action just after the hour, Inter's Lautaro Martinez helped himself to two goals late on, with both coming within five minutes of each other. 

Martinez opened his account with a simple finish over Cutler before completing his brace with a curling effort into the bottom-right corner after collecting Messi's clever backheel.

#AmistosoInternacional

@Argentina 6 (Alexis Mac Allister x2, Gonzalo Montiel, Steven Echevarría e/c y Lautaro Martínez x2) #PuertoRico 0

¡Final del partido!

Una Albiceleste a puro gol pic.twitter.com/b1cDSggq2b

— Selección Argentina (@Argentina) October 15, 2025

Data Debrief: Messi surpasses Neymar

Even at 38-years-old, Messi continues to send records tumbling at all levels of the game, with his two assists here taking his international tally to 60, surpassing former Barcelona team-mate Neymar's previous record of 59. He is now only two shy of totalling 400 in his career. 

It was another exquisite display from the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, who ended the match with game-high totals for shots (eight), chances created (five) and crosses (three), while only Rodrigo De Paul registered more accurate passes (136) than Messi (75). 

Martinez's double saw him take his tally to 35 international goals, going joint-fourth on Argentina's all-time scoring list, level with Hernan Crespo. The Inter captain does, however, still have some way to go if he is to catch Messi at the top of the pile on 114. 

A dominant display from Argentina was backed up by the match metrics, with Scaloni's team registering an expected goals (xG) total of 2.87 from their 25 shots, 11 of which were on target, compared to Puerto Rico's 0.21 from their five attempts.