Lionel Messi

“We'll try to put on a good match, but I hope he and his team don't put on a good one,”

“I have never been a believer or thought that anything was destined to occur, but I am beginning to have my doubts. This is beyond all reasonable explanations,”

“I've followed him a lot because he plays for a club I love so much. He has a chance to achieve something historic — we're going to try to make sure that doesn't happen this time.”

“but I hope he [Yamal] and his team don’t put on a good one.”

“I’ve followed him a lot because he plays for a club I love so much. He has a chance to achieve something historic. We’re going to try to make sure that doesn’t happen this time.”

“Messi also credited Argentina's fighting spirit, saying the squad's refusal to give up had once again carried them through a difficult situation.”

“It was a moment of pure happiness and relief; we wanted to stay in the tournament. We didn't want today to be the end, we didn't want to go home.”

“Turning a match around like that – coming back from 2-0 down – it wasn't easy, especially given how this World Cup is playing out and the fact that no-one is just rolling over,”

“Well, obviously as you get older, you lose things that you had when you were younger — things like speed, reaction time, or seeing the game faster, making decisions,”

“We’re coming off winning the last World Cup, and being able to defend it on the field again is spectacular because it’s always a dream to play with the national team, especially in official competitions, so hopefully God will allow me to do it once again.”

“Sometimes your mind is faster than your legs. But I think I always tried to overcome those things and keep trying to be at my best and get the most out of my physical abilities, my game, and I tried to adapt to the new circumstances.”

“Every team should have the opportunity to bring in players and sign whoever each team wants without limitations or rules for players to bring them in,”

“And I would like to be there. To feel well and to be an important part of helping my national team, if I am there. And I’m going to assess that on a day-to-day basis when I start preseason next year with Inter and see if I can really be 100%.”

“That picture with Lamine, now we are facing in a final after a photo was taken of when he was a baby,”

“We’ll try to put on a good match,”

“We’ve been playing together for a long time and I’m proud to play alongside them. They always give their all, and today was yet another example of that,”

“It’s incredible what this team has achieved today.”

“We were lucky enough to equalise and then win it in 90 minutes. We went all the way, it was just incredible what this group achieved.”

“The truth is that it was a moment of release, a release for all of us,”

“But the players also feel many emotions, they are playing for their country, but this was unforgettable and one of the best moments.”

“I was feeling intense anger because of the penalty I wasted, and because of the way I took it. I felt like in that important moment, I had let the team down.”

“[Messi's leadership] is reflected on the pitch. Everything he shows us on a day-to-day basis I will save for myself but he's incredible. He's our guide, our inspiration, our leader,”

“The truth is that yes, it’s something extraordinary to be able to be in a World Cup,”

“I’m really eager because it’s a World Cup,”

“Everything I went through and everything I did to achieve that — it was the dream of my life,”

“I don’t think that today all teams in the United States, all clubs, have the power to do that, and I think that if they were given the freedom, many more important players would come and help the growth of the United States.”

“And it all came to mind, everything I went through to get there — my family, my people, and Argentina.”