Lionel Messi: Saudi shock means Argentina played five 'finals'

Lionel Messi beamed with pride after his magical display inspired Argentina to a resounding victory against Croatia and secured their place in the World Cup final.

One of the greatest players in football history, the 35-year-old put in a man-of-the-match display in Tuesday's Lusail Stadium semi-final against the 2018 runners-up.

Messi converted a first-half spot-kick and watched Julian Alvarez end a strong solo run with a cool finish, before the skipper showed incredible nous and skill to tee up the Manchester City forward to wrap up a 3-0 win.

Argentina will return to Lusail to face France or Morocco on Sunday, when their captain can crown a glittering career with glory in what looks set to be his last appearance on the world stage.

"Well, what I can say is that I am enjoying this a lot," 35-year-old Messi said with a smile. "I am feeling really good.

"This is what we’ve been doing in every match. The previous match was a big sacrifice and we went into extra time. That wasn’t easy.

"Today we were tired but we pulled our strengths to earn this victory.

"We played very well. We knew that we would play this way. We prepared this a lot because we knew they wouldn’t have the ball because we would need to run in this match and then keep our chances.

"So, as I say, I think we prepared this match in a very good way, as we always do.

"And, personally, I can say that I feel very happy in this whole World Cup. I am enjoying it a lot and luckily enough I am able to help my whole squad to make things happen."

We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the