 But the Barcelona superstar’s international career may now be up. Argentina were dumped out of the World Cup after a thrilling 4-3 defeat to France in the last-16 today
 Messi did not score any Argentina’s goals and controversially started up front on his own in Kazan
 Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala and Sergio Aguero all started the match on the bench
 Argentina manager Jorge Sampaoli has championed Messi throughout the tournament. But the consensus now is that Messi has played his last World Cup
 The 31-year-old could even retire from international football now Argentina’s World Cup exit has been confirmed
 The next Copa America is in 2019 but Messi may well decide not to play it. He quit two years ago after the 2016 Copa America final defeat to Chile, saying: "[Retiring] was a decision I made in the heat of the moment
 "But I was embarrassed to say that I wanted to come back.   "[The coach at the time, Edgardo] Bauza and my teammates made everything easy for me to return to
 "At 30 years old, I now enjoy it in a different way and much more than I did before, I take advantage of every moment, both on and off the pitch
 "I am experiencing this period with the national team in a different way, I am more relaxed
 When they criticise me, I experience it differently." He was brought back into the fold after a public clamouring for his return
 But the knives will be out in Argentina now and Messi is unlikely to respond to the public backlash well
  
