Rivaldo believes that if Lionel Messi does not win the World Cup, he will not be able to be called the same legend of the Argentine national team as Diego Maradona.
The "Barcelona" striker is already considered one of the greatest players of all time, but in international football he has not been as successful so far.
The 30-year-old star has won 23 titles with Barcelona, but has not yet been able to achieve gold with the national team.
"Messi is already a legend for what he has given to 'Barcelona' and to football," Rivaldo told Goal.com. "This must be acknowledged. Of course, the greatest star of Argentina as a country was Maradona, who won the World Cup."
"So, maybe for Argentines Messi is not at the same level of legend, because national team fans do not care about what you have done for your club. Messi has won many titles with Barcelona - Champions League and many 'La Liga' titles."
"This is important for club fans, but for the people of Argentina, it is important to win the World Cup. Of course, you can understand that, because out of all tournaments the World Cup is the most important and it is the highest level trophy."
"If you don't win it, then people might think you need to do it. I believe that until Messi wins the World Cup, Argentines will not consider him the same level of legend as Maradona, but I believe Messi is 100% that. He has achieved a lot with his club and country."
"He is now ready 100%, he is in good form and Argentina is playing well. Let's hope he leads them to the final, as maybe this is his last chance to do it. He might not be a legend for all Argentines, but he is already a legend of football."
During the next World Cup, Messi will celebrate his 35th birthday.
