During the Argentine anthem, the cameras focused on Lionel Messi. He rubbed his forehead, the pose of a man under a lot of pressure at work.

When team-mate Ivan Rakitic sealed a 3-0 win for Croatia in stoppage time, Messi simply looked resigned, as if he always knew that carrying the entire weight of expectation for a two-time world champion nation would be too much to bear.

The public, the great Diego Maradona watching in the stands, his team-mates - all were putting their faith in Messi.

During the Argentine anthem, the cameras focused on Lionel Messi rubbing his forehead

At the final whistle, Messi simply looked resigned as Croatia thumped Argentina 3-0

Messi, rather than being overworked, was sidelined and anonymous against Croatia

Manager Jorge Sampaoli did his best to lighten some of that load against Croatia, changing formation following the disappointing 1-1 draw with Iceland.

From the 4-2-3-1 deployed last Saturday, with all play going through Messi, he was shifted to the right as Argentina moved to a 3-4-3, accompanied by Sergio Aguero and Maximiliano Meza up top.

Occasionally, the Argentine formation even resembled a 4-4-2, with Meza going wide and Messi moving to the centre. This was used by Barcelona last season as they coasted to the La Liga title, during which Messi scoring 34 goals in 36 games.

Diego Maradona looks forlorn in the stands as Argentina teeter on the brink of a World Cup exit

It did not pay off. Instead of Messi being over-worked, there was now not enough supply - even as wing backs Eduardo Salvio and Marcos Acuna flew forwards to create opportunities, leaving gaping defensive holes in their wake - with him moving deeper and deeper in a desperate attempt to get on the ball.

Messi had 20 touches in the first half - only Aguero, with 17, had fewer – and perhaps most notably, none of them in the opposition box and his first came well after the hour.

By the end, he only had 49 touches in the entire 90 minutes - his lowest in any of his 13 World Cup matches. Against Iceland, he had 116.

His place on the right meant his method was to float around 25 yards from goal, pick up the ball, cut in on his left foot and shoot or pass. It was the same against Iceland - and was just as predictable and easily dealt with.

When Argentina fell behind in the second half, Messi at first looked to take emergency action, as he appeared more regularly in the centre. He showed superb strength to shrug off a hefty challenge and almost feed sub Gonzalo Higuain, and nearly set another replacement, Cristian Pavon, free with a through ball.

Messi did not touch the ball in the Croatia box until well after the hour mark

Yet the frustration only grew. Messi was seen in the centre circle in a desperate attempt to start an attack. When in possession on the edge of the area, a minimum of five Croat defenders closed in like drones to smother the danger.

Stop Messi, stop Argentina. A glib comment? No, a successful tactic. With 10 minutes to play, he had fallen back into anonymity, head down, hands on hips, disappeared.

Contrast this to Luka Modric, Croatia's own No 10, who was at the centre of everything good they did in attack.

Modric played as the central attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1, as Messi did against Iceland. Rather than being left to carry the side, however, he fired the Croatian attacking engine into life.

Contrast Messi to Luka Modric, who was at the centre of everything good Croatia did in attack

While Messi struggled with limited suppliers, Modric's supporting cast includes some of Europe's best - Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Perisic, and of course Rakitic.

It was a rare case of Barcelona and Real Madrid joining forces - Rakitic and Modric dominated the midfield tempo. Javier Mascherano was left looking every inch a player farmed to China for a pre-retirement payday.

Every time Croatia came forwards, Modric got on the ball and the Argentines visibly shrivelled backwards. On 20 minutes, Caballero and Nicolas Tagliafico played nervously short passes between them as Modric closed down, almost intercepting for what would have been a tap-in. On 53 minutes, Ante Rebic took his cue and forced Caballero into another mistake, and this time took the chance.

With Croatia under pressure, Modric played with quiet industry in the centre, until, with 10 minutes to play, he finally found space 25 yards out from goal and brilliantly ensured we will hear the Croat anthem, Lijepa nasa domovino, in the last 16 for the first time since 1998. Whether we hear Himno Nacional Argentino for much longer is another matter.