I'm not going to retire - Messi pledges to continue leading Argentina

Lionel Messi says he will not be hanging up his international boots after captaining Argentina to victory at the World Cup in Qatar.

WHAT HAPPENED? Messi finally achieved his World Cup dream on Sunday in Qatar as Argentina beat France to lift the trophy for a third time. The Argentina captain scored twice for La Albiceleste as an exciting game finished 3-3 after extra time and went all the way to penalties. Messi then coolly converted his spot-kick as Argentina won the shoot-out 4-2 to be crowned world champions. The forward, who picked up the Golden Ball award as the best player of the tournament, went on to speak about his future after the game.

WHAT THEY SAID: "No, I'm not going to retiring from the Argentina national team," he told TyC Sports. "I want to continue playing as a champion."

Messi also said he had a feeling he was going to win the tournament this time around.

"It's crazy that it happened this way. I wanted it very much," he told reporters. "I knew that God was going to give it to me, I had a feeling that it was going to be this way. Now to enjoy. Look at this cup, it's beautiful. We suffered a lot but we made it. We can't wait to be in Argentina and to see how crazy it's going to be. This was the trophy I have wanted all of my life. This was my dream since childhood."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Messi has previously said the final would be his final ever World Cup game for Argentina and he certainly bowed out in style. However, it seems Argentina fans will get to enjoy the 35-year-old legend for a little while longer as he's not ready to hang up his international boots just yet.