Lionel Messi scores his 7th World Cup goal for Argentina in opener against Saudi Arabia, watch

Doha: Lionel Messi scored Argentina opening goal in the 2022 FIFA World Cup match against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

This was Messi's 7th World Cup goal in 20 matches. He netted the goal from the penalty spot.

The Argentine captain also become the 5th player in the history to score at 4 different FIFA World Cup tournaments: 2006, 2014, 2018 & 2022.

Messi is leading a strong Argentina squad including Angel di Maria and Lutaro Martinez.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward had raised concerns in the Argentine press after he was seen training separately from the rest of Argentina's squad last week.

Physically good

"I feel very good physically, the truth is that I think I'll enter the tournament in great shape, personally as well as physically," Messi told a news conference on Monday, reports Xinhua.

"I don't have any problem, I heard that they said that I trained differently because I suffered a knock ... but it's nothing unusual. The timing (of the World Cup) is different. It's at the other end of the year and our physical condition is different.

"Normally we have a month to prepare for the World Cup. This time there hasn't been time for that and we have to play our first match very quickly. We knew it was going to be like this. We go into the tournament feeling good. We're prepared and the feeling that exists is always special."