Messi wary of France pace in World Cup clash

Lionel Messi predicts France's collective pace will give Argentina a test in the last 16 of the World Cup.

Argentina moved into the knockout stages at Russia 2018 as a wonderful late goal from Marcos Rojo secured a dramatic 2-1 win over Nigeria in the Group D finale.

A Victor Moses penalty had earlier cancelled out Messi's brilliant opener - the 100th goal of the World Cup - but the Super Eagles were left heartbroken.

And Messi is fully aware of the dangers posed by Group C winners France in the next round.

"Of course we have watched every game. We follow it all," Messi told a news conference.

"France are a very good team with very good individual players. Their defence, they have good midfielders and very good forwards.

"They have very fast players who can make a difference. They also have [Barcelona] team-mates that I know well."

Argentina qualified for the knockout rounds for the fourth consecutive World Cup thanks to Rojo's 86th-minute moment of magic.

Messi - who became the third Argentina player to score at three World Cups, following Diego Maradona and Gabriel Batistuta - accepts his side had to battle hard against Nigeria.

"It was a very balanced game. We were able to control the first half, we had more possession, they tried to create chances around and after the first goal," said Messi.

"We thought the second half would be similar, but they scored the penalty and that made things more difficult.

"We got nervous, we had pressure as the time goes by faster, so that's the reason why we started pressing and attacking more and that's how we managed to score to go through.

"We have suffered a lot. It was a difficult situation with a lot at stake, but of course it was a huge relief for all of us. With many other things that have been said we knew it would be difficult, but fortunately we have achieved it.

"We didn't think we would suffer as much as we had, we were quote confident we were going to go through, and fortunately it became true."