Lautaro Martinez equals Diego Maradona as fifth top Argentine scorer

Buenos Aires, Nov 20 Lautaro Martinez wrote his name into the history of Argentina as his goal against Peru allowed him to equal Diego Armando Maradona's 32 goals with the national team.

Martinez, who has 31 goals, is one goal away from equalling Maradona (32) in fifth place in the ranking of top scorers in Argentina's history, a list led by Lionel Messi (112).

Martinez’s second half volley consolidated top spot for Argentina in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers as Lionel Messi's side beat Peru 1-0 on Wednesday (IST).

"It was a spectacular year in terms of performance, goals, games played. We have to keep playing and improving day by day. "Everyone wants to beat us. The Argentine national team is always the protagonist. There are things to improve but we have to continue on this path," said Martinez.

The 27-year-old striker scored his 11th international goal of 2024 on Wednesday. He consequently became only the third man to eclipse 10 goals for Argentina in a calendar year after Gabriel Batistuta (12 in 1998) and Messi (12 in 2012 and 18 in 2022).

The win keeps Argentina firmly atop the standings with 25 points from 12 matches, five ahead of Uruguay. Peru, rooted at the bottom with just seven points.

Argentina is unbeaten in its last 18 games against Peru in the South American Qualifiers (W12 D6). It is the best unbeaten streak for the Albiceleste against a single team in the history of the tournament.

Argentina has not conceded a goal in 10 of its last 11 home games in the South American Qualifiers (W9 D1 L1). The exception was the loss to Uruguay in November 2023 (0-2).

"The boys are very hungry to continue winning and competing. Sometimes it goes like it did today, and sometimes it goes like it did against Bolivia (6-0 win). We slipped up against Paraguay, but this team never hides away," said Argentina assistant coach Walter Samuel.