Topics: FIFA World Cup, Argentina, Croatia, Lionel Messi, Gabriel Batistuta, Ronaldo Nazario
The Argentine ace was as accurate as ever with his spot kick against Dominik Livakovic, giving La Albiceleste the lead over the Croatian side.

The stage was set for a big game for Lionel Messi, and the Argentine ace did not waste any time to make his presence felt in the semi-final against Croatia with a well-placed penalty for "La Pulga".

The South Americans were awarded a penalty after Julián Álvarez was brought down inside the box by goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, and Messi immediately took the ball to transform this chance into the first goal of the evening.

Messi had already leveled his goalscoring tally in World Cup games with Gabriel Batistuta last Friday, but today, he is the sole owner of that record after finding the back of the net for an eleventh time in FIFA World Cup. matches.

If that was not enough reason for Messi to celebrate, he also matched the record set by Ronaldo Nazario with one more WC game finding the back of the net.

Have a look at Messi's opening -and record-breaking- goal for Argentina (Image might be geo-restricted).