Argentinian star striker, Lionel Messi has been at his best throughout the tournament.

This is Lionel Messi’s first FIFA World Cup win as Argentina outplayed France in the finals on December 18.

Messi scored eight goals, setting up four more and thrilling his team's sea of fans, who had poured into Qatar in numbers.

Messi has joined German legend Miroslav Klose by winning 17 matches in FIFA World Cup tournaments.

This was Messi’s 26th World Cup match on Sunday making him the player with the most world cup appearances surpassing Germany's Lothar Matthaus.

Messi surpassed Italian legend Paolo Maldini on Sunday by playing more than 2,217 minutes in World Cup history.

Messi scored in each knock-out stage becoming the first player in the history of the World Cup to score in the group stages, Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.

He became the highest-scoring Argentine in World Cup history scoring his 14th goal against France.

Messi is now alongside Pel a record three-time World Cup champion from Brazil and Diego Maradona, the late Argentina great with whom Messi was so often compared.