Lionel Messi Admits He Is 'Hurt' by Penalty Miss After Iceland Hold Out in World Cup Draw

Barcelona star Lionel Messi has admitted that he was left "hurt" following Argentina's 1-1 draw against Iceland on Saturday, where goalkeeper Hannes Halldórsson stepped up to save the 30-year-old's penalty midway through the second half.

Argentina got off on the right foot and they took a fantastic lead through Manchester City striker Sergio Agüero but Iceland's Alfred Finnbogason, who plays for Augsburg in Germany, levelled the scoreline with a clever first time finish.

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However, not long after half time Argentina had the chance to reclaim the lead when defender Hördur Björgvin Magnússon clattered into Maximiliano Meza, with referee Szymon Marciniak pointing straight to the spot.

Messi stepped up but his effort was at the perfect height for Halldórsson to save, ensuring that La Albiceleste had to share the points on the opening day of their World Cup campaign.

"It would have changed the script. It was the advantage," Messi said after the match, quoted by BBC. "Obviously it hurts me to have missed the penalty. They would have opened a little more and we could have found more spaces.

"We have the bitterness of not being able to take the three points that we deserved. To start with winning is always important, now we have to think about Croatia. We will try to pass this quickly."

Croatia and Nigeria - the two other teams in Group D - played in the late kick off on Saturday with hopes high that the pair could play out one of the most exciting matches of the World Cup so far.

However, the Super Eagles failed to live up to their expectations and were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Croatia, although Zlatko Dalić's side barely had to get out of second gear throughout the match.