Kathmandu,

December 14,

Lionel Messi has become the first Argentine player to score 11 World Cup goals by netting the opener in their semi-final against Croatia this evening.

Messi opened the scoring with a lethal left-footed finish from the penalty spot after Julian Alvarez was taken down by Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic inside the area. Messi stepped up to convert from the spot and net his 11 ^th World Cup goal.

The Paris Saint-Germain superstar had levelled Batistuta’s World Cup tally of ten goals in Friday’s quarter-final progression against the Netherlands with a coolly-converted second-half penalty, before also scoring in the penalty shootout.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner is now only one goal behind Pele's mark of 12 World Cup goals, while Just Fontaine, Gerd Muller, Ronaldo and Miroslav Klose are the only other players to have scored more times than Messi on the biggest stage.