Who was Argentina's all-time top scorer before Messi broke the record?

Gabriel Batistuta was Argentina’s all-time leading scorer before Messi broke his record.

Batistuta scored 56 goals in 78 appearances for Argentina between 1991 and 2002. Known as “Batigol,” he was the national team’s defining striker for much of the 1990s and scored in three different World Cups: 1994, 1998, and 2002.

Messi surpassed Batistuta during Argentina’s 2016 Copa América Centenario campaign. He scored his 55th international goal against the United States in the semifinal, moving beyond the total traditionally credited to Batistuta. Messi later extended the gap substantially and became Argentina’s clear all-time leader.

The numbers can vary slightly between statistical sources because some count certain friendlies or disputed matches differently. That does not change the answer to this question: Batistuta held the record before Messi. Sergio Agüero, Diego Maradona, and Alfredo Di Stéfano were also major Argentine scorers, but none was the record-holder immediately before Messi.