Lionel Messi loses long-standing goal record as Luis Suarez hits back at critics

Luis Suarez has surpassed Lionel Messi’s goalscoring record in South American World Cup qualification.

Suarez netted from the penalty spot to bag Uruguay’s fourth goal in their 4-1 win over Venezuela having grabbed the winning goal against Paraguay four days earlier.

There have been concerns over the striker’s form and growing calls for him to lose his place in the Atletico Madrid starting line-up due to his poor showing this campaign, but he has now answered his critics.

Suarez’s goals carried great significance too – as they lifted Uruguay into fourth spot in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualification table with two games remaining, placing them in an automatic qualification spot.

The former Liverpool star has now netted 28 goals in World Cup qualifying, one more than the Paris Saint-Germain forward – although he has played two matches more with 60 games compared to Messi’s 58.

Messi sat out this international break as he instead focused on playing for Paris Saint-Germain after suffering from Covid – Argentina have already qualified for this year’s World Cup finals in Qatar and allowed their star man to focus on his club fortunes this week.

The Argentine put in another underwhelming performance for Mauricio Pochettino’s side against Nice this week as his team crashed out of the Coupe de France in a penalty shootout after a scoreless draw.

Suarez took full advantage of Messi’s absence to net in both qualification matches for Uruguay and take his former Barcelona teammate’s goal scoring record in the tournament.

Suarez has scored seven La Liga goals this season – a respectable return – but is struggling to find his best output with a recent report claiming he snubbed the chance to join Italian giants Juventus.

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