Argentine superstar Lionel Messi recovered from illness to lead Barcelona to a record third Club World Cup title with a 3-0 win over River Plate in Sunday's final.

Four-time world player of the year Messi missed Barcelona's semifinal win over Guangzhou Evergrande on Thursday with renal colic, but returned to the starting lineup alongside fellow star forwards Neymar and Luis Suarez to face the South American champions.

And Messi did not disappoint the 66,853 fans at Yokohama's Nissan Stadium, opening the scoring in the 36th minute before Suarez added another four minutes into the second half.