Lionel Messi's heartwarming speech after scoring 800th goal [Watch]

An emotional Lionel Messi gave a heartwarming speech on Thursday in front of nearly 83,000 fans in Buenos Aires.

Messi netted the second goal in Argentina's 2-0 win over Panama in their friendly fixture, which was his 99th goal for his country and overall, it marked his career's 800th goal.

Before the kick-off at a jam-packed El Monumental Stadium, Messi was in tears seeing the reception his side received from the fans as it was Argentina's first outing since winning the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last year.

After the match ended, Messi took in another lap of honour that saw the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star hoist the World Cup trophy aloft once more. The scenes were incredible in Buenos Aires with the fireworks celebrations and to top it off was Messi's emotional speech.

"I want to thank all of you for the affection we have been receiving. Not only for being world champions but also for the Copa America. We had said that we were going to do everything we could for this," Messi said to the fans in the stadium on Thursday.

"Personally, I have always dreamed of this moment. To be able to celebrate with you, to come to my country, to Argentina, to lift a Copa America, the Finalissima and the greatest one, which is the World Cup.

"Today is our day, where we are celebrating the champions, but I don't want to forget all the teammates who were there before, who also did their best to win the cup. Who also did their best to achieve this and we were very close to the Copa America and the World Cup. They deserve all the recognition of the Argentine people because they also gave their all for this shirt," the PSG forward added further.

Leo Messi: 'Let's enjoy the third star'

Messi also acknowledged the efforts of his previous coaches.

"I'd like to thank all my previous coaches who also tried everything possible for this. Unfortunately, it didn't happen.

"Hopefully it won't take so many years. It has been shown that it is very difficult to win the World Cup. It depends on many things, not only on a great group and a great team and sometimes it's not possible to win it because of details. So let's enjoy the third star," the Argentine captain said.

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni, who recently won the FIFA's best manager's award, named the same starting line-up as the World Cup final with the entire squad from Qatar posing for pictures in front of a replica trophy before kick-off.

Substitute Thiago Almada grabbed the opener in the 78th minute before Messi doubled Argentina's lead with his signature free-kick, which appeared to be the perfect way to enter the 800-club. Messi is now 30 goals behind his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who netted a brace in Portugal's 4-0 win over Liechtenstein in a Euros qualifiers fixture on Thursday.

Meanwhile, head coach Scaloni, who was also fighting back happy tears, said, "Eternal gratitude to these players. Football belongs to them, and without them, we wouldn't have won the World Cup. Everyone who wears this shirt gives their all and sometimes the results don't come. But this time we got it and it's incredible."

Argentina are next scheduled to take on Curacao on Tuesday before Messi and Co return to their club duty.