Argentine star Lionel Messi faces England for the first time in his career.

After more than two decades of playing in international football and facing every World Cup champion team except England, 39-year-old Argentine superstar Lionel Messi will finally complete the final piece of his professional career puzzle.

This Wednesday, Argentina will face England in the World Cup semi-final in Atlanta. The Argentine Football Association's official website, in its pre-match preview, called this heavyweight clash "a match fate has been against Messi."

Throughout his illustrious career, Messi has faced Brazil, Uruguay, Germany, Italy, Spain, and France numerous times, but he has never met England on the field.

The last time the two teams met was in a friendly match in November 2005, in which Argentina lost 2-3. At that time, a young Messi was suspended due to receiving a red card in his national team debut and unfortunately missed that match.

Argentina's journey through the knockout stages of this World Cup has been fraught with peril. They previously defeated Cape Verde in extra time during the round of 32, and then staged a remarkable comeback against Egypt in the round of 16 after trailing by two goals.

Speaking about the upcoming clash with their arch-rivals, Messi said in an interview: "This match is very special because England is a great team. It's always great to play against such an opponent and participate in a match of this caliber."

"The whole team has experienced tremendous physical exertion. We need to rest well now and be in the best possible condition to face the game, and continue to do what we have always been doing, which is to compete."

Image source: Internet