BBC Radio 5 live

In 'pint-sized World Cup round-up' BBC Radio 5 live's pundits ask whether this is Lionel Messi's tournament. The Argentine rescued his team with a 91st-minute wonder goal against Iran to notch his second goal of the tournament.

We've been asking for your highlights so far. A lot of love for Tim Cahill's volley against Netherlands and plenty of other picks, too. Keep them coming...

Galen:, external Messi scoring game winner at the death.

StellinA:, external Still van Persie's header.

Matthew Black:, external When Suarez scored against England to make it 2-1.

Lionel Messi's wonderful strike against Iran got the world talking, with the forward's goal attracting 256,000 tweets per minute - one of the highest peaks of the tournament so far.

And pop star Rihanna, external became Twitter pundit once again, with her tweet celebrating Messi's goal the most retweeted worldwide (in relation to the game).

Image source, Martin Demichelis

Even the Argentina squad dabbled in a bit of social media, with defender Martin Demichelis, external posting a celebratory picture from the dressing room.

Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella has called Lionel Messi "a genius" after his stoppage-time goal beat Iran and put his side into the knockout phase.

Iran had frustrated Argentina with a solid defensive display until Barcelona forward Messi curled in his second goal of the World Cup.

"We have a genius who is called Messi and fortunately he is Argentine," said Sabella. "Iran made life hard for us but with Messi, everything is possible."

Image source, Getty Images

More of your suggestions on how to improve England's chances:

Daniel Osunbor:, external English players are not so good. This is why they are not attracting interest from Europe's 'big clubs'. Face it.

LowieDen:, external England's conditioning was way below that of other countries. We struggled to play with pace for more than a few minutes.

Paddy Emmerson:, external The FA should be brave - get rid of Hodgson and pick a manager for the long term and not just a safe option.

Image source, Cristiano Ronaldo

Can Portugal beat the USA tonight? There doesn't seem to be any seeds of doubt from Cristiano Ronaldo as the Portugal captain happily poses with a watermelon version of himself ahead of the match which kicks off at 23:00 BST and is live on BBC One and BBC Radio 5 live, with text commentary on the BBC Sport website.

The picture has received over one million likes on the forward's Facebook, external page and has been shared 16,000 times.

England striker Rickie Lambert says Roy Hodgson should keep his job as England manager., external

Former England forward Gary Lineker believes the Three Lions were "lightweight" defensively in their two opening World Cup defeats.

Howard Wilkinson and Harry Redknapp have called for a change in domestic football in an effort to improve the England team.

Rickie Lambert has given his support to Roy Hodgson to continue in his role as England manager.

Speaking on The FA website:, external Lambert said: "One thing is very important - we don't make any knee-jerk decisions. I think the set-up we have... the manager who is in charge is definitely the person we need to go forward with the group of young kids coming through.

"The progression they have had under Roy has been amazing, so if he can keep the group together for another two years it's going to be exciting and they are going to learn after what has just happened."

Image source, Getty Images

Striker Rickie Lambert says his World Cup debut was one of the lowest points of his career. The 32-year-old came on as a substitute in England's 2-1 defeat by Uruguay on Thursday. England's exit from the tournament was confirmed on Friday as Costa Rica beat Italy.

Lambert told the Football Association website:, external "It was probably the worst moment of my career when the final whistle went and we were knocked out of the World Cup. It was horrible.

"Maybe I might look back in years to come and think 'I've played in a World Cup', that will live with me forever. But I can't remember any moments that are as bad as that."

Peter Shilton on Harry Redknapp's claim that some players did not want to play for England: "What can you say? It's ridiculous that players can't be bothered but maybe somewhere along the way maybe that's the root of why we're not doing so well at the moment.

"I don't think you can knock their commitment or attitude but maybe there's one or two who can't be bothered. It's probably a minority.

"I can understand frustrations at times but it's your country and you should be proud of it."

Speaking to Sportsweek on 5 live, Matt Le Tissier added: "It's horrible to listen to. I was desperate to get more caps. It sticks a knife through your heart."

Alex Ridler:, external England looked lethargic compared to other teams in the World Cup. How about a winter break?

John Moore:, external With all the TV money focused on Premier League clubs, it's ruining the development of English players. Cash must be better dispersed.

Ethio:, external Young players should go abroad for experience. Also, the price for England players is too high, there are better and cheaper options.

Andrew in Richhill: The FA should set up a 'B' League that mirrors the top four tiers of English football. It would allow more young, home-grown British players to have the chance to play more football and get more experience at their clubs. It would stop unnecessary loans and would ultimately mean that clubs and the England national team have a larger pool of players to choose from.

David Singh in Teesside: If Roy Hodgson is any manager he will drop the entire team and give all the other players a chance to start. We have nothing to play for yet the other players might actually try to prove a point?

Image source, Getty Images

What could Roy Hodgson have done differently to improve England's chances of progressing to the knockout stages? It's all about the tactics, according to Lineker.

"In terms of his tactics, personally, I believe Roy got it wrong," says the Match of the Day presenter.

"I think a system that suits this kind of England better is a 4-3-3. He tried to play with two players in the centre. I think it is too big an ask for two players.

"The problem with 4-2-3-1 is it very quickly turns into a 4-4-2, or at least 4-4-1-1, and we ended up with flat lines and people getting in between us. I think we would have been better with three midfield players and then attack with three players because you have got to give yourself a chance defensively."

But, of course, there was plenty that went wrong for Roy Hodgson's men during their defeats against Italy and Uruguay.

"Defensively, we were simply not good," adds Gary Lineker. "It was always the fear before the tournament that we were lightweight at the back.

Image source, Getty Images

"We have very little depth in defence as well. Our attacking full-backs... neither of them are naturally defensive. And, possibly, there was not enough protection in front of the back two."

Some of your early shouts on what measures should be taken to improve the England team:

Mr GumbO:, external Limit the number of foreign players per match to bring youngsters through and play them, plus introduce more Futsal games to kids.

David Parker:, external Start picking players on merit and not for who they play their club football for.

Scotty Doman:, external Need to put international football before domestic like Germany and Belgium have. Due to nature of Premier League, I can't see this ever happening.

So, two games and eight days - that's all it took for England to exit the tournament.

"What a humiliation," says Match of the Day's Gary Lineker, but the former England striker believes there are some positives to be taken from England's performances.

"Well, I thought a few youngsters had decent tournaments," he says. "They will be better for the experience if it doesn't damage them too much. There were a lot of good statistics in terms of ball retention, in terms of domination of matches, in terms of shots at goal."

Here's something our friends on 5 Live posted on Twitter, external in the early hours of this morning: "Germany fans are watching the match on sofas at FC Union Berlin again. Best seats out of the house?"

Here are your headlines at the top of the hour:

Queens Park Rangers boss Harry Redknapp claims that some players he has managed during his managerial career did not want to represent England.

Former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton says the Football Association should stick with Roy Hodgson as England manager.

Ex-England midfielder Matt Le Tissier says Hodgson "should have been braver" with his team selection in Brazil.

Harry Redknapp and Howard Wilkinson believe England's poor World Cup performance is rooted in club football.

What can be done to improve the fortunes of the England team?

Send us you suggestions via text (UK users only) on 81111 or via Twitter using #bbcfootball, external

Former England and Southampton midfielder Matt Le Tissier on Roy Hodgson's future as England manager: "The FA will stick by him because he's the right kind of character to be England manager.

"He'll be looking at himself asking 'should I have played Ross Barkley and Adam Lallana from the start?'. Until we start picking talented footballers instead of athletes, we're not going to get very far.

"I like Roy Hodgson as a bloke but I think he could have been a bit braver with his selections."