Lionel Messi is looking to beat England and reach a third World Cup final with Argentina. Guillem Balague looks at the evolution of one of the game's all-time greats.

If Argentina are to become the first nation to successfully defend their World Cup crown since 1962 - and just the third ever - then Lionel Messi will have been at the centre of it. The 39-year-old has sparkled at his sixth World Cup - a joint record with Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa - scoring eight goals and providing three assists. But while Messi leads the Golden Boot race with France striker Kylian Mbappe, the global audience has seen a very different Messi from the one who made his debut for Barcelona in 2003. Argentina will renew a historical rivalry with England in the semi-finals on Wednesday (20:00 BST) at Atlanta Stadium, when the attention will fall on Messi once again. Most players decline. The elite ones find ways to adapt. Ronaldo reinvented himself as a penalty-box predator when his pace went. Messi has not adapted to decline. He has adapted so he can dominate and stay ahead of a game that has always been chasing him. At this World Cup, he has been creating more but moving less. He has had 33 shots and created 21 chances, the most combined (54) since Diego Maradona in 1986. He has managed this despite walking 47% of the distance he's covered, the highest percentage of any outfield player.