Lionel Messi breaks Argentina’s record for most goals scored at World Cup

Lionel Messi has now officially become Argentina's all-time top scorer at the World Cup.

He surpassed Gabriel Batistuta's 10 goals with a deftly-played penalty strike against Croatia in the semi-finals.

It signalled yet another astounding performance from Messi in the World Cup as they advance to the World Cup final.

ITV co-commentator Ally McCoist claimed the effort was 'unstoppable' and well, it's hard to disagree.

Take a look at that spot-kick below.

The game had turned on its head, despite Croatia initially frustrating Argentina in the opening stages with some precise and, at times, slow build-up play.

They dominated possession for large spells and Messi was essentially pressed out of the game.

In fact, the star footballer, who could be seen stretching his hamstring throughout the first-half, struggled to find space, even when he dropped into deeper areas.

That was, until Messi's incredible goal.

Messi's penalty has some saying it's one of the best of his career.

The game then began to slip away from underdogs Croatia, who struggled to deal with the attacking flair of Argentina.

Messi’s goal was given even more of a buffer only minutes later, with Argentina’s Julian Alvarez finding the back of the net to put Argentina up another point after some calamitous defending from a usually solid Croatia.

That made the score a sweet 2-0 in favour of Argentina in the first half.

The two goals left Argentina sitting pretty, with the South American side storming to a World Cup final after easily booting out Croatia in Lusail.

But, even though he'd already made history during the game against Croatia, Messi wasn't done just yet.

Again, he left ITV commentators speechless as he showed off his skills to nab a third goal for Argentina.

Messi's third was enough to bring Argentina out in front to an unbeatable lead, with the final whistle sounding at 3-0.

This has put Argentina through to the finals and Croatia set to battle it out for third spot.

It all now hangs in the balance of the France v Morocco game, which will determine who Croatia will face off against for third place and who Argentina will battle in the final.

Featured Image Credit: PA Images/Alamy. PRESSINPHOTO SPORTS AGENCY / Alamy.

Topics: Lionel Messi, Argentina, Football World Cup, Qatar

Jayden Collins

Jayden Collins is a Journalist at SPORTbible. He has worked across multiple media platforms in areas such as sport, music, pop culture, entertainment and politics. He is part of the editorial team for LADbible Australia.