LIONEL MESSI has named his favourites for the World Cup – with one surprise omission.
The Argentina skipper doesn’t appear scared by England, despite the Three Lions being the top scorers in Qatar.
APLionel Messi has listed his favourites for the World Cup[/caption]
ReutersMessi did not mention England as one of his favourites[/caption]
Gareth Southgate’s side swept aside Senegal 3-0 on Sunday and have netted an impressive 12 goals in just four games so far.
That is three more than second highest scorers France and Spain, who have both netted nine so far.
But while Messi listed France and Spain as two of the favourites for the tournament, England were left off his list.
The 35-year-old, playing in his last World Cup, also tipped rivals Brazil as one the favourites.
Messi said, via the Mirror: “We have seen the entire World Cup. The matches that we can, of course.
“Brazil is playing very well, except for the defeat they had against Cameroon, they continue to be one of the great favourites.
“Also France. And Spain, despite the manner of their progress (losing against Japan), because they played very well, they are really clear about what he their game is when they have the ball, they control possession for a long time of the game.”
Messi failed to mention his own nation, but remained hopeful that the two-time winners could be in it until the end.
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When evaluating his own side, Messi said: “Argentina is a power and is always among the best teams.
“We knew that before coming here we were one of the candidates because of what we had been doing and we had to prove it on the pitch.
“And luckily we have been doing it and hopefully we will continue taking small steps.”
Messi has scored three goals and provided one assist in four games this tournament.
The forward was superb in the 2-1 last 16 win over Australia on Saturday, finding the back of the net in his 1,000 game.
And he will be looking for a repeat performance in Friday’s quarter-final clash against Holland.