Australia brought out that inner fire that Messi has, says Mac Allister

 secured their place in the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win against Australia in the last 16 of the World Cup on Saturday. They will face the

on Friday.

opened the scoring in the 35th minute and Julian Alvarez scored the second goal in the 57th minute. It was Messi's first goal in the World Cup knockout stages.

Just seconds before his goal, Messi got into a little tussle with an Australian player and Alexis Mac Allister believes that incident made Messi even more motivated.

"Leo, when these things happen, he brings out that inner fire that he has, that personality that makes him even bigger than he is,"

team-mate Mac Allister said.

"In these kind of games, he becomes bigger.

"For us, he is the most important player. He knows it, he helps us a lot, and for us, it is a pride to be able to accompany him.

"We know that he always tries to give his best, but when something happens [like the confrontation] he has enough personality to get out of it, to make it work for him and start playing even better."

Messi has scored three goals at the 2022 World Cup and overtaken Diego Maradona on World Cup goals with nine goals in total. He is now just one behind Gabriel Batistuta who is Argentina's all-time top scorer in World Cups.

"I really enjoy playing with Messi,"

the Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder said.

"For me, he's the best player in history, in the world, and I'm proud to be next to him.

"I try to give him the ball to him, because if the ball goes through him, everything is easier. I think he's having a great World Cup and we need him a lot."

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