Lionel Messi will look to make history when he takes on the Netherlands Wednesday in the 2014 FIFA World Cup semifinals.

Against a tough Netherlands squad led by Arjen Robben, Messi will try to captain Argentina to its first World Cup finals since 1990, when another iconic Argentinean did the same.

And that is where the main point of contention comes in.

Messi has long been compared to his former coach, Diego Maradona, who led Argentina to a World Cup championship back in 1986 before leading the team to the final against West Germany four years later. If Messi defeats the Netherlands, he will be in the same situation as his Argentine predecessor and could potentially put to rest the storied comparisons.

The comparisons on the international stage, particularly in the World Cup, are rather shocking. Maradona was supposed to be the main man to help Argentina defend its title in 1982. Despite scoring two goals, the Argentine's tournament was marred by a red card that had him sent off after a foul against Brazil.

Four years later, expectations were higher, but many questioned the team's ability to make a deep run without the attacking prowess of prior Argentina iterations. But Maradona proved doubters wrong with a tremendous run in the tournament. He scored five goals in that World Cup, including two controversial tallies against England, while winning the Golden Ball.

Four years later, he carried his nation to the final despite being injured and scoring no injuries. His legacy remained intact for his nation, but it would all go downhill from there. In 1994, the 34-year-old looked to bow out with grace and dignity, but did anything but that. He scored a goal, but was sent home after failing a doping test; that would mark the end of a legend in disgrace.

Messi's World Cup travails have taken a similar route. At the age of 22, he went to the tournament in South Africa with the same expectations Maradona carried in 1982. But like Maradona before him, Messi flopped at the tournament without scoring a single goal. Meanwhile, the team around him proved to be effective at scoring, but poor at defending. From the sidelines, Maradona entertained crowds as the team's manager with his over-the-top reactions, but even he could do little to stop the 4-0 loss at the hands of the cruel Germans.

Four years later, Maradona is gone and the defense is just as suspect. Like Argentina entering the 1986 World Cup, people felt that the team could contend, but a lot of questions existed about its overall form. Argentina has eked out five victories thus far, all of them by one goal, but only one theme has persisted throughout -- Messi. The 26-year-old superstar has scored four goals in this tournament, and has one assist to boot. Argentina has yet to convince as a top side, but the reality is that the team has found ways to win and keep its tournament hopes alive. Messi has been at the forefront of things and has thus matched Maradona's achievements.

Until now.

Messi must still win the tournament to reach that level and possibly surpass it. He has already had a better club career than the other Argentine superstar. Maradona scored 312 goals through his club career; Messi already has 364 goals throughout his Barcelona career at the ripe age of 26. For country, Messi has already scored 42 goals, while Maradona only had 34. Messi will continue to add to his totals over the next four to six years and should pass the 400-goal mark for his club; he could also score over 50 goals for his country and potentially even pass Gabriel Batistuta's record 56 goals to become the top Argentina goal scorer of all time.

If he has a World Cup title to add to those feats, then there will be no question over which Argentine reigns supreme.

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