Lionel Messi scores fastest goal in international friendly against Australia WATCH THE VIDEO

Lionel Messi plays his first game after his move to Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.

Lionel Messi celebrates after his goal against Australia. (Image: Twitter)

Beijing: Lionel Messi scored Argentina’s fastest-ever goal on Thursday as the former Barcelona superstar netted Australia in just 80 seconds in an international friendly.

Coming onto the pitch for the first time since moving to Inter Miami, Messi penalized the opposition for giving him space and Argentina’s World Cup winner blasted the ball past opposing goalkeeper Mat Ryan in a low finish.

Messi’s previous fastest goal was in 127 seconds in 2018 when he scored for Barcelona against Chelsea in a UEFA Champions League match. Incidentally, Argentina knocked out Australia in the last 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar before taking the title.

Lionel Messi.

THE BIGGEST THERE IS. THE BIGGEST THERE WAS. THE BIGGEST THERE WILL EVER BE.
pic.twitter.com/v5Iquy5ONu

— george (@StokeyyG2) June 15, 2023

Argentina will take on Indonesia on Monday in Jakarta. It was Messi’s seventh goal in seven consecutive appearances for Argentina and also his first-ever goal in the first two minutes of a game.

Meanwhile, Messi moved his base to the United States after deciding not to renew his contract with Ligue 1 giants PSG at the end of the season. Following his departure from the French club, the former Barcelona star was rumored to be returning to his boyhood club, moving to Inter Miami instead.

“I’m not going back to Barça, I’m going to Inter Miami,” Messi said in a statement to Mundo Deportivo. “I have made the decision that I am going to Miami. I still haven’t closed it one hundred percent. I miss some things, but we decided to continue on the same path.

“If the Barcelona thing didn’t come out, I wanted to leave Europe, step out of the limelight and think more in my family,” he added.