Liverpool winger Luis Diaz believes the footballing world "owed" Lionel Messi a World Cup due to his extraordinary career.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward ended Argentina's 36-year wait for a World title as they defeated reigning champions France in a dramatic finale at the Lusail Stadium.
After efforts from Messi, Angel Di Maria and a hat-trick from 23-year-old sensation Kylian Mbappe, the two sides were forced to settle the 22nd World Cup final on penalties, which Argentina emerged victorious from thanks to the measures of Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez.
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In doing so, the Albiceleste became the first South American side to win the World Cup since Brazil in 2002, something which appeared to delight Diaz.
Posting to his 3.6m Instagram followers, Diaz uploaded a photo of Messi kissing the World Cup trophy on his story with the caption: "All is said. Football owed you."
Diaz did not feature at this year's final in Qatar as Colombia's poor performance in CONMEBOL qualifying saw them miss out on becoming one of the region's representatives in the Middle East.
The Liverpool forward has not featured for the Reds since October 9 due to sustaining a knee injury in the 3-2 defeat at Arsenal and was dealt a major setback during the club's training camp in Dubai last week as he was flown back to Merseyside for surgery on a lateral collateral ligament injury. He is expected to be sidelined until the end of February.
Liverpool are back in action Thursday as they travel to Manchester City for the latest defence of their League Cup crown.
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