Lionel Messi breaks record with 644 goals, the most at a single club

Lionel Messi’s 644th goal for Barcelona marks the most goals for any player ever for a single club.

Soccer star Lionel Messi surpassed the legendary Pele on Tuesday to become the player to score the most goals for a single team after scoring his for the 644th time in a Barcelona jersey.

The record-breaking goal came in the 65th minute of Barcelona’s La Liga match on the road against Valladolid. The goal, Barca’s third of the game, was also the 33-year-old striker’s seventh of the season. Barcelona won the game 3-0.

The goal surpassed the mark Pele set of 643 goals for Brazilian club Santos over a span of 18 seasons ending in 1974 after he signed with the New York Cosmos.

Messi needed 749 official games to break the record, while Pele managed the milestone in 665 games.

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Messi, who joined Barcelona when he was 13, has been playing pro for the Spanish giants since 2004 when he was just 17. In all, Messi has won 10 league titles with Barcelona, in addition to four Champions League trophies. The last one came in 2015.

The Argentine-born star has also won many personal accolades, including the Ballon d’Or six times as the world’s best player.

https://twitter.com/FCBarcelona/status/1341517879083233280

Despite the club accolades, Messi has failed to win a World Cup for Argentina, which has put him behind the late Diego Maradona in the minds of many of his countrymen.

Pele, meanwhile, won three World Cups and is considered, alongside Maradona, as the best player to ever play the sport. He turned 80 earlier this year.