Bhubaneswar, Dec. 14 -- Football superstar Lionel Messi once again impressed and rose to the occasion where all the pressure was on him heading into the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup versus Croatia at the Lusail stadium on Tuesday.

Following a fierce battle between both sides, Messi finally broke the deadlock in the 34th minute via a penalty. With that strike, he became Argentina's all-time leading World Cup scorer with 11 goals. He surpassed Gabriel Batistuta's feat in the process.

The 35-year-old now equals Diego Maradona's total of eight at World Cups with an assist to Julian Alvarez in the 69th minute of the game to give Argentina a 3-0 lead.

While Messi has five goals to his credit at this World Cup, four of those are penalties...