Lionel Messi bangs 50th goal for Argies

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi scored his 50th international goal as Argentina defeated Bolivia 2-0 to advance their 2018 World Cup qualification campaign.

Messi now also needs only one more goal to reach 500 goals for club and country — raising the prospect that he could achieve that milestone with Barcelona this weekend when the Spanish giants take on Real Madrid in the Clasico.

Messi’s goal for Argentina came via a penalty in the  30th-minute  at the Estadio Mario Kempes in Cordoba .

His  spot-kick followed defender Gabriel Mercado putting Argentina ahead after 20 minutes with his second goal in as many games.

The victory cements Argentina’s place in the automatic qualification berths of South America’s round-robin competition with 11 points from six games.

Messi’s penalty makes him only the second player in Argentinian history to reach a half century of goals for the two-time World Cup winners.

The 28-year-old striker is now closing in on legendary scorer Gabriel Batistuta’s record of 56 goals set between 1991 and 2002.