Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr says his team love Lionel Messi but will have no qualms about knocking his Argentina team out of the World Cup on Tuesday.

When Moscow confectioners found out Lionel Messi would be celebrating his birthday during the World Cup, they decided he needed a gift that measured up - a life-size chocolate sculpture in his likeness.

"The most important thing is to compete well and then God and Messi will decide if we can win the World Cup," Argentina president Mauricio Macri said of his country's chances of winning the tournament in Russia.

KATHMANDU, June 4: Argentina starts 2018 FIFA World Cup which is set to kick off from June 14 to July 15, to get one better of the last finals when it lost to Germany 1-0 in the final in 2014. The 'Group of Death' of has Croatia, Iceland, and Nigeria also fighting for their bids.

Argentina’s World Cup ambitions rest heavily on the shoulders of Barcelona legend Lionel Messi, who is still searching for his first piece of major silverware with his country.

MOHAMED SALAH is on a par with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and he’ll prove it over the next 10 years, says Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde defended his decision to rotate the team against Celta Vigo, where the La Liga leaders saw their title charge held up by a 2-2 draw and had Sergi Roberto sent off.

Cristiano Ronaldo versus Lionel Messi is the one debate which everyone in football, from fans to players to pundits, seems to have an opinion on.

FEB 21: Argentina icon Lionel Messi denied Chelsea a famous victory with his first goal in nine matches against the Blues to hand Barcelona the edge in this engrossing UEFA Champions League round-of-16 opener.

Christiano Ronaldo has told Real Madrid to derail Barcelona’s interest in Alvaro Odriozola. The Real Sociedad star has been touted as a potential new arrival at the Nou Camp.

Lionel Messi's plan B for Barcelona

December 31, 2017 16:02 pm

BARCELONA, Dec 31: Barcelona are yet to replace Neymar following his £200million move to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.

Argentinian football chiefs held a meeting with the Russian ambassador over safety fears sparked by a sick image ISIS mock up of Lionel Messi crying blood.

ZURICH, March 28: Lionel Messi has been banned from Argentina's next four World Cup qualifiers, starting with Tuesday's game in Bolivia.

MADRID, Jan 9: Lionel Messi saved Barcelona from its second straight defeat by scoring with a 90th-minute free kick in a 1-1 draw at Villarreal in the Spanish league on Sunday.

Lionel Messi has led the Argentina squad in a media boycott following ‘disrespectful’ allegations made against a number of the side’s players.

BARCELONA, Nov 7: Barcelona defender Gerard Pique feels club-mate Lionel Messi should have been awarded the World Footballer of the Year title each season since 2009.

Barcelona says the Argentine Football Association has apologized for comments made by its national team coach Edgardo Bauza about Lionel Messi’s injury.

LONDON, Sept 6: Lionel Messi has finally revealed why he dramatically switched his look and bleached his hair this summer.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J, June 27: Lionel Messi tells Argentine network TYC Sports he is quitting national soccer team.

CHICAGO, June 11: Argentina raced out to a seventh-minute lead thanks to an unlikely source in centre-back Otamendi. Despite being deemed fit to play by coach Gerardo Martino, Messi was named among the substitutes in Chicago, but the captain came off the bench and took the game by storm to seal Argentina's passage through to the knockout round of the Copa América at Soldier Field.