Lionel Messi can secure his place among the game's greats with a World Cup triumph after Argentina defeated the Netherlands on penalties on Wednesday to reach the final.

On Sunday at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Messi will come up against a Germany team that has ended his two previous attempts to bring his country a third World Cup title.

Messi has won everything that there is to win with his club Barcelona ­­— six Spanish league titles and three Champions League titles along with various Cups.

On an individual level the diminutive striker has been crowned World Player of the Year on four occasions and has broken several scoring records.

But for his country, the ultimate prize has evaded him so far. A 2008 Olympic gold medal and an Under-20 World Cup win back in 2005 are not to be dismissed but the narrative has long been set — if Messi wants to be viewed in the same category as his compatriot Diego Maradona and Brazilian Pele, he needs to win a World Cup.

Pele won three World Cups for Brazil ­— in 1958, 1962 and 1970 but Messi will always be compared to Maradona, the captain of the Argentina teams that won the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, with Maradona scoring five goals, but were beaten by West Germany in the final four years later in Italy.

Wednesday's match saw Messi win his 92nd cap for his country, passing Maradona's appearances and moving into sixth place in his country's all-time list.

Messi had just turned 19 and was just coming back from injury when Argentina went out in the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup on penalties to Germany.

Four years later in South Africa, Germany again ended Argentina's hopes with a crushing 4-0 defeat and Messi bowed out of the tournament without a goal to his name. Maradona was coincidentally Argentina manager then.

Now the 27-year-old Messi has the opportunity to make Germany pay for those two defeats and at the same time end the discussion about his contribution to the national team.

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