Messi hat-trick carried Argentina to a 3-1 win over Ecuador booked their place World Cup finals in Russia.
Argentina facing the dire possibility of missing out on a World Cup for the first time since 1970, their brilliant captain delivered when it matter most with three goals in the rarefied air of Quito.
The twice World Cup winners finished third in the 10-team South American group, going through with Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia as the automatic qualifiers, while Peru grabbed a playoff place against Oceania champions New Zealand at the expense of Chile.
"Today Argentina took a great step forward," said coach Jorge Sampaoli. “I hope that with the time to prepare that we’ll have, we can be competitive (in Russia) like we were today.”
While Sampaoli was delighted with his captain's performance, he said the side had to stop relying on him so much.
"We've got to fix it so not everything depends on Messi," he added.
Messi had not been at his best in Argentina’s stuttering campaign and failed to score in their previous three drawn qualifiers, which had left them in sixth place and out of the qualifying berths for Russia heading into Tuesday's game.