Lionel Messi has lifted the lid on why Argentina performed poorly in the World Cup final against Spain and eventually failed to defend the title.

The 39-year-old was hoping to bow out of international football in the grandest of style with back-to-back World Cup trophies, but it wasn't to be as Spain defeated the South American giants by a lone goal in extra time.

Ferran Torres scored the all-important strike to guide La Roja to their second world title.

Addressing the crowd at the packed Monumental Stadium in his farewell speech, Messi disclosed that the semi-final clash against England took a physical and emotional toll on the Argentine players, resulting in their sub-par performance in the final.

"We had a dream, my dream and the whole country's dream of becoming world champions again.

"The match against England really drained us. Physically and emotionally, it was exhausting, and the truth is we arrived to the final running on fumes," Messi said after his final game against Benin Republic.

WDN