Lionel Messi scores 91st Argentina goal ahead of World Cup in 5-0 friendly rout of UAE

Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez was also on target for one of the World Cup favourites.

Lionel Messi, centre, netted his 91st goal for Argentina in their pre-World Cup friendly (Hussein Malla/AP) (AP)

Lionel Messi was on target as Argentina warmed up for the World Cup 2022 with a 5-0 rout of the United Arab Emirates.

Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez opened the scoring after being teed-up by Messi in the 17th minute before Angel Di Maria netted a quick-fire brace.

Messi then struck his 91st goal for his country and Joaquin Correa added a fifth on the hour mark as one of the favourites for the tournament in Qatar played their final match before the Group C opener against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Croatia, runners-up in 2018, won Wednesday night’s only match featuring two Qatar-bound countries as they edged out Saudi Arabia 1-0 in Riyadh.

The cagey contest was finally settled in the 84th minute when substitute Andrej Kramaric struck the winner.

Niclas Fullkrug’s debut goal earned Germany a 1-0 victory over Oman in Muscat.

The 29-year-old Werder Bremen forward was teed-up by Chelsea’s Kai Havertz to score the only goal with 10 minutes remaining.

Borussia Dortmund forward Youssoufa Moukoko, at 17 years and 361 days old, became Germany’s youngest debutant since 1954.

Poland left it late to clinch a 1-0 victory over Chile in Warsaw.

It was a closely-fought battle, but neither side could find a breakthrough until Krzysztof Piatek fired home following a corner with five minutes left.

Elsewhere, Qatar-bound Mexico were beaten 2-1 by Sweden in Spain.