Argentina captain and Barcelona Football Club talisman, Lionel Messi believes the 2018 World Cup in Russia might be the last opportunity for the present crop of players in the team to lift a World Cup trophy.

Although he has lifted a plethora of global, continental and domestic titles with Barcelona, Messi’s national team career has not experienced the same glory, having suffered heartbreak in three consecutive major international finals.

Messi lost the finals of the last World Cup hosted by Brazil to the Germans courtesy of a Mario Goetze extra-time goal as well as the finals of the 2015 and 2016 editions of the Copa America.

“I cried many times because of games like these, for lost finals, for what they mean and for not being able to achieve the dream of a country,” Messi told Argentina television programme, “La Cormisa.”

“They (the three lost finals) were tough blows. It seems like having reached three finals doesn’t help us at all. We depend on the results, unfortunately. We feel that if we are not champions…..we will not have another.”

He added: “I want to tell people that I hope it is a great World Cup for us, that my wish is the same as all of you and that we can live something similar to 2014, which was an unforgettable experience, and that the result is similar but this time raising the cup is everyone’s dream.”

With the player now approaching 31, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner realizes that time is ticking away on his and his team-mate’s chances of achieving the elusive dream.

Fellow key team-mates like Manchester City’s duo of Nicolas Otamendi and Sergio Kun Aguero, Juventus’s Gonzalo Higuain, Paris Saint Germain’s Angel Di Maria and Javier Mascheramo of Barcelona will all be 30 or over when the World Cup kicks off in June.

The Albe Celeste will take on tournament debutants, Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria in the group stage of the Russia 2018 World Cup which kicks off on Thursday, June 14 with the opening match between hosts, Russia and Saudi Arabia.