Messi was at about 85% of his complete beast mode, miles and miles ahead of the Messi of this last season but not quite at his best but the thing is, even at 85% he came extremely close to winning the WC. It really wasn't until the quarter finals against Belgium that Argentina honestly started looking like being able to compete deep in the tournament and Messi deserves a lot of credit for picking up the slack for Argentina and dragging them through, despite very poor overall showings from the rest of the team.
It was clear that he was the only one capable of truly producing a moment that could win it for Argentina with the only other player anywhere close to the required level being Di Maria. TBH, the only difference between Brazil and Argentina was that Argentina was better organized, other than that their game plans were very similar: sit back deep, win the ball back and give it to Neymar/Messi. My main point is that Argentina simply need more than just Messi to win the WC and all the criticism he is receiving is well and truly absurd. The only thing I could criticize Messi for is not moving enough off the ball but he was probably told by Sabella to stay central until the team moved to the attacking third and coupled with how tired he was, he still did very well, made good decisions, and either created opportunities to score or kept the play moving with his involvement, not much more you can ask from him.
As for the final, Argentina had chances to win it and really should have between Messi's chance, Higuain's gaffes and Palacio's terrible attempt at a chip. I think they perhaps created more clear cut chances to score than Germany did, at least during normal time and it was clear that Argentina lost because they simply couldn't run anymore. The heart was willing but the body gave way and that all comes down to Sabella. Germany are a very balanced, deep and complete team. 75% of their team play for the top and most competitive teams in Europe, not just their starters and that was Argentina's problem, other than their starting 11, they didn't have the quality on the bench to keep up and its a huge reason why they slowed down against Germany.
Just compare the two teams. Germany had Muller, Ozil, Kroos, Schweini, Hummels, Neuer, Klose, Lahm, Gotze, Schurrle and even young talents like Draxler and Meyer [both whom barely featured] who are all world class players who are key parts of top European clubs while Argentina only has Messi, Di Maria, Mascherano and Aguero. They simply needed more players who can do more than just stand in a space and pass the ball to Messi during the rare chances they got possession.
Di Maria would have changed this game a lot had he featured and would have provided them with the quality in the MF that they were desperately lacking.
Personally, I think its stupid to compare current generation players to past generations since so much changes in football every year that you can't make a completely fair and neutral analysis (one of the biggest is the physical football itself, moves much faster than the old leather balls which is why I think the game is so much faster, physical and more defensively oriented). But honestly, I don't understand why Messi is constantly in this conversation of being a football "God" like Maradona, Pele, etc. while Ronaldo isn't. The only thing that stopped him was injuries, other than that he was just as gifted, ruthless and accomplished as Messi was and unlike Messi, he has won a WC.
I think he has a spot in football's Mount Olympus already however and he doesn't need a WC to keep it, a WC would only strengthen his position there.
Messi still has a chance to win it in 2018 if you ask me though and I think they will have a better chance than winning it this year. If within the next four years Argentina can produce some quality players who are at least on the same wavelength as Messi and Di Maria then I think they could win it. For example, a player like Iturbe who can be a match winner is what Messi needs, someone else who can carry the load and most importantly make it to where he isn't being surrounded by 4 players every time he touches the ball.
I was proud of him, that much is sure.
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