WATCH: Lionel Messi's astonishing Blitz curler; en route to becoming the best free-kick scorer of all time

In 2024, Lionel Messi's success continues to soar high. After leading Argentina to victory in the Copa America in July, Messi secured his 46th career trophy by scoring twice in Inter Miami's 3-2 win over the Columbus Crew. This further solidifies Messi's place in history as the most decorated player of all time. In a much-anticipated fixture, Miami had a points advantage over Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference, but they took some time to find their rhythm.

Messi, in particular, struggled to get involved. Although, he managed to get on the ball, he had difficulty holding it up and occasionally lost possession with an errant pass.

Despite Columbus not being vastly superior, they controlled the ball better and posed a greater threat. However, none of this mattered at the end of the first half, as Messi swiftly scored two goals just before the interval.

Watch: Messi comes, Messi Scores, Messi Wins

In the first goal, Messi showed his exceptional ball control by bringing down Jordi Alba's pass and skillfully dribbling past two defenders before slotting the ball past the American goalkeeper, Patrick Schulte.

Shortly before the end of the first half, Luis Suarez won a foul on the left edge of the penalty box, presenting a challenging angle for Messi's free-kick attempt. However, Messi's exceptional skill saw him beautifully curl the ball past the defenders into the net, leaving the goalkeeper stunned.

WATCH the video here:

🚨 Messi free kick goal 🚨

(via @MLS)pic.twitter.com/puAJ42xOLv

— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 3, 2024

Messi close to becoming the king of free-kicks

Messi who is still actively playing at both country and club levels, is en route to become the greatest free-kick taker of all time. As Messi scored his astonishing blitz curler from the spot in the fixture against Columbus Crew, he surpassed his club's co-owner David Beckham's record to score the most free kicks and placed himself in the third position in the all-time list tied with Brazilian maestro Ronaldinho.

The little man from Rosario has scored 66 career free kick goals and is now only trailers behind Brazilian legend Pele who had 70 career goals and another Brazilian Juninho Pernambucano, who leads the pack with 77 goals.