Barcelona's Lionel Messi has set the record for most goals in a calendar year by scoring his 86th goal of 2012, BBC Sport reported.

The 25-year-old Argentine overhauled Gerd Mueller's tally of 85 - set in 1972 - to set a new benchmark which includes goals for club and country.

Messi set the new record with two goals in a 2-1 win over Real Betis on Sunday, December 9. He fired in an angled shot after 16 minutes to equal the German's record before adding a second with a low drive in the 25th minute to set the new mark.

Messi's path to the record has included 74 goals for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina in 66 games.

He still has two league matches and one King's Cup tie to add to his tally before the end of the year.

Messi is now favorite to claim a fourth Fifa world player of the year award after making the three-man shortlist which also includes Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo.