Argentina great Diego Maradona has revealed that he would tell superstar Lionel Messi not to return to the national team.

The 31-year-old last featured for Argentina at the World Cup, skipping friendlies in September and being ruled out of upcoming matches against Iraq and Brazil.

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The Barcelona man led his country all the way to the World Cup final in 2014, where they lost to Germany, as well as the Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016, again in losing causes as Chile came out victorious on both occasions.

Maradona, a 1986 World Cup winner, feels Messi – Argentina’s all-time leading goal-scorer – should retire from international duty due to the blame he receives whenever the national side fails.

Asked what he would say to the Argentinian captain, Maradona told Clarin: ‘Don’t come anymore.’

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He added: ‘The U15s lose and it’s Messi’s fault. The fixture in Argentina puts Racing against Boca and Messi is to blame. It’s always his fault.

‘I would say, “don’t go anymore”. Let’s see if they can handle it.’

Argentina, who scraped into Russia 2018, were eliminated in the last 16 by eventual champions France.

The star’s international future has been in doubt since the showpiece tournament, with Messi having previously retired in 2016.

Photo: EPA/Ritchie B. Tongo