Messi scores hat-trick, Argentina wins ticket to World Cup

The Barca superstar scored all three goals, helping Argentina beat Ecuador 3-1, and officially secure a place to Russia in the summer of 2018.

On the morning of October 11 (Vietnam time), superstar Lionel Messi shone with a hat-trick, helping Argentina defeat Ecuador 3-1 away at Olimpico Atahualpa in the final round of the South American qualifying round to officially win a ticket to the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia.

Messi's joy after scoring against Ecuador. Photo: Reuters

Having to win to secure a ticket to the 2018 World Cup, Argentina pushed their squad to attack right after the opening whistle. However, the determination of Messi and his teammates was soon doused with cold water when Ecuador found the opening goal in their first attack.

In the first minute, from a central attack, Romario Ibarra coordinated with Roberto Ordones and then broke free to shoot diagonally past goalkeeper Romero, opening the score.

Having conceded a goal, Argentina increased the pressure and Messi rekindled Argentina's hope with an equalizer in the 12th minute after a one-two with Di Maria.

With high spirits after the equalizer, Argentina continued to attack and Messi continued to bring joy to the fans when he stole the ball from defender Renato Ibarra's feet, then broke through and defeated goalkeeper Banguera with his signature left-footed shot, raising the score to 2-1 for Argentina.

Early in the second half, when Argentina was under pressure from the home team, Messi once again shone brightly with a breakthrough past two Ecuadorian defenders and then fired a shot past goalkeeper Banguera, sealing a 3-1 victory for Argentina.

With this victory, Argentina jumped from 6th place to 3rd place and officially won a ticket to attend the 2018 World Cup.

In contrast to Argentina, the reigning South American champions, Chile disappointed when they lost 0-3 away to the top team Brazil. This result, along with the 1-1 draw in the Peru - Colombia match, saw Chile drop from 3rd place before the final round to 6th place and have to be spectators at the 2018 World Cup.

The remaining two tickets from the South American region belong to Uruguay (beat Bolivia 4-2) with 31 points (2nd) and Colombia with 27 points (4th). Meanwhile, with 26 points, Peru ranked 5th and won the play-off spot with New Zealand (Oceania).

According to TTO