Lionel Messi says he feels under no pressure to fire Argentina to World Cup glory.

The Barcelona striker is tipped to be World Player of the Year and is Diego Maradona's team's best hope of winning in South Africa.

He said: “I don't feel pressure playing in the Argentina shirt. In Spain, I'm also in a team that has to win everything.

“The World Cup is a nice ­opportunity to show I can do the same things in the national team as for ­Barcelona.

“We are candidates to win the ­tournament but no one's favourites – that's good for us.”