Topics: Lionel Messi, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, FIFA World Cup
La Pulga scored from the spot after only 10 minutes to give La Albiceleste an early lead in their Qatar 2022 opener.

Lionel Messi barely needed any time to get off the mark at the 2022 FIFA World Cup!

The Argentina superstar captained his country, as usual, for their opening match at Qatar 2022 as the Copa America champions stepped onto the pitch to face Saudi Arabia in Tuesday's early kick-off.

The 35-year-old was named in Scaloni's starting eleven and was positioned right behind Lautaro Martinez. However, despite being played in the creative goal, La Pulga got La Albiceleste's first shot on goal, testing the Saudi Arabian goalkeeper just a few minutes after kick-off.

And in the 10th minute, the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner got his name on the scoresheet courtesy of a VAR intervention. The match official was requested to look at the screen after Leandro Paredes was deemed to have been brought down in the box.

The referee agreed and wasted no time in pointing to the spot. Messi stepped up and comfortably buried it into the back of the net to grab his first goal of the tournament. Check out his goal in the video below (videos are geo-restricted).

Lionel already admitted this will be his last FIFA World Cup, with the PSG superstar targeting glory in his final bow. Will Argentina go all the way in this tournament? The South Americans will need to win their group first, with the Copa America holders taking on Mexico and Poland next.