Argentina captain Lionel Messi took his side back into their dressing-room to regroup with the kick-off delayed by 27 minutes.

Messi clashed with Rodrygo on Argentina’s return to the pitch, with the Real Madrid star saying ‘You are acting like cowards, don’t you want to play the game?’

Rodrygo posted on social media to reveal he had been subjected to racist messages

The Real Madrid star had clashed with Lionel Messi in Brazil’s loss to Argentina on Tuesday

The clash had followed a delay to kick-off after police clashed with supporters in the stands

‘We are the world champions, how are we cowards?’ Messi responded as per TyC Sports. ‘Keep your mouth, watch your mouth, kid.’

Rodrygo has revealed he has since been targeted with racist abuse in recent days, stating his social media accounts have been ‘invaded with insults.’

The Real Madrid and Brazil forward hit out at ‘criminal behaviour’ in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

‘Racists are always on duty. My social networks were invaded with insults and all kinds of nonsense. It’s there for everyone to see!,’ he wrote.

‘If we don’t do what they want, if we don’t behave as they think we should, if we wear something that bothers them, if we don’t lower our heads when we are attacked, if we occupy spaces that they think are theirs alone, racists take action with his criminal behavior.

‘Their bad luck. We will not stop!’

Rodrygo had previously criticised Spanish authorities for a lack of action to tackle racist abuse, after his Real Madrid team-mate Vinicius Jr had been repeatedly targeted during matches.

The 22-year-old, speaking to MundoDeportivo in February, claimed that nothing changes despite the issue of racist abuse being discussed.

Argentina became the first team to beat Brazil in a home World Cup qualifier with a 1-0 win

‘On this subject, it does bother us a bit, not only Vinicius, but everyone inside [the dressing room,’ he said.

‘But we feel that we can do no more, we have no more strength.

‘We always talk and nothing changes. I particularly don’t know what else to do with this issue.

‘Now, I try not to talk, and seeing that others talk and nothing changes, I’m not going to talk.’

Vinicius’ time at Real Madrid has been marred by racist abuse he has suffered at some grounds in recent seasons.

LaLiga opened an investigation in allegations of racial abuse aimed at the star during Real Madrid’s win over Barcelona last month.

The forward was racially abused by multiple Sevilla fans during a 1-1 draw at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan in October.

Rodrygo has previously criticised the lack of action to tackle racist abuse aimed at Vinicius Jr

Vinicius did however praise Sevilla for their quick response to those incidents after they ejected a fan and reported them to the authorities for racially aggravated insults.

Meanwhile, earlier in October, Vinicius provided evidence in a trial of three Valencia supporters who were accused of racially abusing him last season.

The Valencia incident was one of eight incidents LaLiga reported and documented last season for racism aimed towards Vinicius in what is a damming state of affairs