According to Argentina teammate Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi is the living example of the saying you can't keep a good man down as he advances to yet another World Cup final.

On Sunday, another opportunity to win football's top trophy awaits, eight years after Lionel Messi and Argentina were devastated by Germany's victory at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.

On Tuesday, Messi's penalty and a double by Julian Alvarez helped the Albiceleste defeat Croatia 3-0 in the semifinal match.

Argentina will look to the captain for motivation in the final against France or Morocco. Messi was superb as usual, setting up Alvarez's second goal by dancing past Josko Gvardiol.

At the age of 35, the Paris Saint-Germain forward could be about to experience his career's crowning glory.

Defender Romero said: "Leo's of course a wonderful player, but more than that he's a reference and he's somebody who is a personality, who is always going for more.

"He's been hit so many times and every time he gets back up again and goes for more and he has the strength to do that. He won a Copa America, he's a benchmark like others, [Angel] Di María, Kun [Sergio Aguero], who is no longer here."

Messi has now appeared in as many World Cups as Lothar Matthaus, who previously held the record with 25 appearances.

With 11 goals, he now holds Gabriel Batistuta's World Cup scoring record for Argentina.

Argentina, which is attempting to win its first World Cup since 1986 when the similarly charismatic Diego Maradona was in charge, benefits greatly from having the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner among its ranks.

Romero added: "You put your life into this, to bring the trophy home. We're here to deliver. It was shown once again that we are lions. No matter what happens on Sunday, we are going to give all we've got to bring the cup home."