Lionel Messi has suggested he won’t get another chance if Argentina fail to win the World Cup in Russia this summer.

The Barcelona forward lost in three straight finals – two Copa Americas and the 2014 World Cup –in a three-year span and has not won a trophy with the senior team.

Messi’s hat trick at Ecuador in the Albiceleste’s 3-1 win in their final qualifier in October earned his country a spot in this summer’s World Cup and again underlined the player’s importance to his national side.

“It’s just the feeling that this group of players has. It seems that having reached three straight finals didn’t mean anything. Obviously, we depend on results and unfortunately, we reached three finals and we didn’t win them. A lot was said about us. The criticisms hurt back then. But the demand is going to be there for this group to get it done. We think that if we don’t do it, we are going to get a lot more [criticism] and we are not going to have another possibility.”