Lionel Messi Reacts To 'Painful' Penalty Miss As Cristiano Ronaldo Comparisons Grow

Lionel Messi urged the rest of his Argentina teammates to remain calm despite his "painful" penalty loss resulting in a 1-1 draw with Iceland on Saturday.

Argentina began their Group D campaign against Iceland, who were taking part in their first-ever World Cup campaign following their fairytale run in Euro 2016.

The South American side got off to a good start with Sergio Aguero's stunning left-foot strike giving them the lead in the 19th minute. However, Alfred Finnbogason would equalize just four minutes later.

In the second half, Maxi Meza was brought down in the box giving Messi the chance to take the penalty and give Argentina the lead. His effort to the right of Hannes Halldorsson was saved though, making it four misses in his last seven attempts for club and country.

Iceland would eventually hold on for a priceless point as Argentina got their campaign in Russia off to a mediocre start.

"It was hard for us to break, it's not easy when a rival plays so far back," Messi told reporters after the game. "The penalty was painful, I feel responsible. We do not have to go crazy, we deserved to win, but we have to improve a lot, now we have to be calm."

Everything ran through Messi for a majority of the game but Argentina struggled to break down a resolute and disciplined Iceland side, with the Barcelona man recording 11 shots during the 90 minutes to no avail.

Messi feels Argentina were the superior side and deserved to win, but is already looking ahead to a tough encounter with Croatia, who would later in the day, defeat Nigeria 2-0 to top the group for now.

"This is just beginning and we knew it would not be easy," Messi added. "It's a bad fight because we deserved to win, we were superior to Iceland. We have things to improve, we're going to beat Croatia."

The 30-year-old's penalty miss and failure to score against Iceland drew scrutiny from many in the soccer world, especially as it came a day after Cristiano Ronaldo's hattrick earned Portugal a point in their 3-3 draw with 2010 champions Spain.

Messi is regarded as the greatest player of all time, but, for many, Ronaldo is staking a claim for the unofficial accolade, especially having won four of the last five Ballon d'Or awards to tie the former's tally as well as guiding Portugal to victory at Euro 2016.

With Ronaldo winning his fifth Champions League title last month, a good showing with Portugal could also cement an unprecedented sixth Ballon d'Or title in 2018.

Messi meanwhile, is still without international glory with the senior team, having lost three consecutive finals with Argentina from 2014 to 2016, and the pressure on him will undoubtedly increase for the rest of the tournament.

Argentina take on Croatia on Thursday at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Nizhny Novgorod.