Eden Hazard last night claimed Belgium are ready for the biggest game of their lives.
The Chelsea forward insists Lionel Messi is the best player in the world but says Belgium have got the defenders to stop the Argentinian superstar.
It sets up a classic World Cup rematch from 1986 when Diego Maradona inspired Argentina to victory but Hazard is convinced Belgium can gain revenge in their quarter final showdown on Saturday.
Hazard said: "It is a big game for this generation. It is very important. We can make history. I hope we can win. We know the best player in the world is in this team, but we are not afraid. We can win.
"This is a big game. Maybe the biggest game in my life, and I hope to continue the World Cup.
"For me, Messi is the best in the world. I don't know how we can stop him but we watch videos and we will try to win.
"They have one big player who can make the difference every game. If we can stop him...but it will not be easy.
"I think we are two good teams. I don't know how it will go. For me, it's 50-50. They have Messi, Higuain, Lavezzi. But we have a lot of great defenders.
"They have Di Maria as well. I haven't played against Messi before. I will think about it the night before, but on the pitch I don't care who I play against. I do what I do, but I try to do my best.
"For the confidence it is great. We have a generation with a World Cup quarter-final to play and if you're not happy or confident about that then there's a problem."
Hazard is held up as the biggest star of this Belgian generation and he will be expected to inspire them in the same way that Lionel Messi does for Argentina.
Belgium have struggled to hit their best form but Hazard believes the knock-out stages will be a different story after their morale boosting win over USA in the last 16.
Hazard said: "We've had four matches in the World Cup and four victories, there are not many teams who manage this, now we have to keep it going.
"Physically I was tired, the coach could see it and he took me off at the end, I couldn't keep going and I had cramps when I had the ball. We have real athletes in the group, though.
"As I said, matching the team of 1986 is an objective. It is not impossible and is there to fight for. If we have to go out in the quarter-finals against Argentina, I hope we will go out with a good match.
"We have said to ourselves, it is up to us. There are no more games like the first three where we didn't play well but won in the end; the US game was really a collective effort, individually there weren't many errors and I think the victory was fully deserved.
"The whole team is tranquil now We do not feel pressure, we play like we do in training, and that is why we are there.
"We don't feel pressure. For us, it's the same as when we play in the Champions League so we are used to it. We play against the best players in the world and in the Champions League as well, it's Barcelona, Real Madrid. It is the same."
