Brazil legend Dani Alves has hailed his former Barcelona teammate, Lionel Messi, after the Paris Saint-Germain superstar led Argentina to the World Cup victory against France on Sunday.

Messi played the tournament as if it was his last one and lifted his first World Cup at last.

The Argentina captain scored seven goals and provided three assists, and he was duly awarded the Golden Ball.

And Alves, who was in the Brazilian team that crashed out to Croatia in the quarter-finals, sent a heartwarming congratulations to Messi

This... I don’t [care] what they tell me..bastard @leomessi ... this… world cup wanted you,” he wrote on Instagram.

“Football loves you, and those of us who love football respect you and congratulate you right now for that moment.

“And just to top it off, he [Messi] was the one who always talked about the almighty God,” he added.