When Lionel Messi apologised for scoring a goal in a final, he probably won't do that on Sunday

Lionel Messi once apologised for scoring in a final, a move he's unlikely to repeat if he hits the back of the net in the World Cup final on Sunday.

Messi has a chance at immortality in Qatar this weekend, when Argentina take on France to decide who are crowned as the world champions.

The Paris Saint-Germain star has won pretty much everything that he can in his career, aside from the World Cup, having finally put to bed the criticism of his lack of international honour at last year's Copa America.

His goal and incredible assist against Croatia on Tuesday night helped set him up for one last crack at the final prize, having lost to Germany in the 2014 final.

The 35-year-old could even complete a triple crown of winning the World Cup, Golden Ball and Golden Boot, something he also managed when winning the Copa America.

In order to do so he may have to score in the final, as he currently sits level with Kylian Mbappe on five goals for the tournament.

Should he score, we can't for one moment imagine he'll copy what he did in the FIFA World Club Cup final in 2015, when he decided against celebrating.

Then playing for Barcelona, the forward scored the opening goal against Copa Libertadores champions River Plate, but decided not to mark his goal, instead choosing to apologise.

Speaking afterwards, the four time Champions League winner explained exactly why he decided not to celebrate the strike.

"I know how much effort all those fans made in making that trip and how excited they were," he said in a post-match interview with FIFA, via Sport.

"And there was me, the Argentinian, scoring the first goal and ruining it all for them.

"I don't know if I was actually saying sorry, but it was a type of apology."

In the past, Messi has been criticised in his home country for seeming to care more about his club team than his national team, but he showed how much he cared about his fellow countrymen in that moment.

Barca went on to be crowned world champions, with Luis Suarez scoring two second half goals in Yokohama, Japan, to round off a 3-0 win.

Messi scores his goal. Image: Alamy

In 2019, Messi showed his class by telling the referee not to award a penalty kick in his favour following one his signature slaloming runs in the box.

He rinsed two players with his fancy footwork but the third got his body in front and stopped Messi in his tracks. Messi stumbled to the floor after losing his balance but the referee asked for a VAR review on the incident.

However, Messi immediately told him that he was not fouled and play continued.

Whether that would be the case again on Sunday remains to be seen...