Lionel Messi left in tears after losing World Cup final to Spain 1-0

Lionel Messi has been in tears after losing the World Cup final to Spain 1-0.

The Argentine was ineffective in the final, not taking a touch in the Spanish penalty area as he failed to add to his eight goals, missing out on the Golden Boot.

Barcelona winger Ferran Torres dealt the killer blow in extra time to win the World Cup for Spain.

At full-time, several Argentina players got into heated confrontations, including Leandro Paredes and Nahuel Molina.

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Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart slammed the behaviour of the Argentinians at the end of the game, labelling it "disgusting".

"There was one man on the pitch who did have class, and that was Lionel Messi, who shook hands with every one of those Spanish players.

"The game's done. They could have absolutely no complaints about what happened today. Disgusting behaviour," he told the BBC.

Argentina were previously criticised for their aggressive behaviour during their 2-1 semi-final win over England.

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Players had unveiled a banner at full-time claiming sovereignty of the Falklands Islands.

England's former all-time record goalscorer Wayne Rooney echoed the thoughts of Hart.

He said: "Does it surprise you? It doesn't surprise me.

"We've seen this with Argentina before. It's just not the reaction you want. We've seen some of the reaction after knocking England out in the last round.

"That's just sad. If you lose a game of football, be graceful and get out of there. It's really poor from them."

Argentina defender Molina hit Spain midfielder Rodri while celebrating.

Paredes appeared to grab Eric Garcia by the throat and then throw Gavi to the ground.

Rooney continued: "That's a reaction to them being outplayed, out-fought, out-thought on the football pitch, and then they resort to that at the end. It's poor from those two players."

Former England defender Micah Richards added: "It's quite embarrassing really. In the game, they were just on the cusp every single time.

"Paredes doesn't need to do that; he's better than that, and it doesn't stop there - it keeps going and going and going.

"We all know what it's like to lose a game, we can be very frustrated, but this is not good enough - it's not a good look at all."

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