Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has claimed that it is almost impossible to be prepared to face Lionel Messi ahead of the World Cup quarter-final against Argentina on Saturday.

After beating Messi's Barcelona to the La Liga title last season, the Atletico Madrid shot-stopper has suggested that studying the forward will have little effect on whether he can restrict his influence in Brasilia.

"I know him well from Atletico's games against Barcelona, so it'll be nice to play against him for our countries," the 22-year-old told reporters.

"Hopefully we can win, but we'll see. The good thing is that I don't have to watch videos of him because I know him so well, but even if you watch videos of him, he's so unpredictable that it's impossible to study him to know what he's going to do.

"As soon as he finds a way to shoot, he will shoot, so the only thing you can do as a goalkeeper is concentrate at all times."

Messi has scored four goals in his four appearances at the World Cup this summer.