Argentina star Lionel Messi has given an interview to TyC sports in which, among other things, he looks ahead to the World Cup,

Messi's hat-trick against Ecuador lost month booked Argentina's ticket to Russia and now he's looking forward to being part of the biggest tournament in the world.

Asked about who he'd like to avoid, he singled out Spain, who a number of his Barcelona teammates play for.

“I would prefer to avoid Spain [at the World Cup] because of the way they play," Messi said.

"They would be a tough rival. The favorites are Spain, Brazil, Germany, France... they're the countries in the best form."

Asked if he could see himself at Qatar in 2022, Messi said "for now I am thinking about Russia, which is closer. I hope we can achieve what we want, it's everyone's dream to win [the World Cup].

"Afterwards, we will see how things unfold. This time passes quickly and there's not much time left, we have to take advantage to keep growing."