World Cup 2018, Nigeria 1-2 Argentina: Best and worst players from the game

#3 Best - Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Messi finally opens his account with a well-taken finish

The tweak in formation certainly worked wonders for Lionel Messi who opened his account for this year's tournament with a composed finish to put Argentina ahead on the night. It only took 14 minutes for Messi to make an impact against Nigeria when he timed his run to perfection to get on the end of a delightful lob pass over the defence from Ever Banega.

However, the job was far from done and with two exquisite touches of the ball he set himself up for a comfortable finish that would send the Argentina supporters at the Saint Petersburg Arena into a delirium of noise. They had finally witnessed what they had hoped for on the night, the Superman from Rosario carrying the hopes of their nation yet again.

Messi had more in his locker and provided a killer pass shortly thereafter to send Higuain through on goal, but the latter was denied by the heroics of Francis Uzoho. Argentina's talisman was denied a second goal on the night by the woodwork after he tried to curl one past Uzoho from a free-kick routine.