Portugal icon Deco has hailed Lionel Messi for his 2022 World Cup triumph in a sly dig at Cristiano Ronaldo and Seleçao for their elimination in quarter-finals.

Ronaldo’s Portugals was listed among the global tournament’s favourites.

However, then Fernando Santos’ Seleçao failed live up to expectations and was knocked out by Morocco in the quarterfinals.

Lionel Messi’s Argentina on the other went on beating France on penalties to claim their third World Cup while Portugal is still running after its first triuph.

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Speaking on his country’s failure, Deco said they could have won the title if they had Messi in their squad.

“Argentina won the World Cup because they have Messi”, he told TR Sports.

“For us, Portugal had the best generation of good players, but we don’t have Messi,”