Just the prospect of Lionel Messi's return gave Argentina so much confidence that one player openly said it would intimidate the Brazilians ahead of their South American World Cup qualifying match.

But having the world five-time player of the year back from injury didn't translate into success, as Messi's friend Neymar led Brazil to a convincing 3-0 victory at Mineirao stadium on Thursday.

Neymar set up Philippe Coutinho's opening goal from the edge of the box, then the Barcelona star scored his 50th goal for Brazil at the end of the first half with an elegant touch in front of the Argentine goalkeeper.

Neymar also blasted a shot off the post, lobbied midfielder Lucas Biglia, easily worked his way through the opposition defense and was fouled nine times as he pushed Brazil forward.

"Look at this guy. If Neymar had played here in that game against Germany in the 2014 World Cup, we wouldn't have lost 7-1," said Brazil fan Eric Angelo.

"We would have more confidence and maybe given the Germans a challenge."

Neymar was injured when Brazil experienced its worst defeat ever in international competition.

Messi began with a lot of style on Thursday and caused trouble for his marker, Fernandinho.

In only five minutes the Manchester City midfielder was lobbied by Messi and was handed a yellow card after a hard foul on the Argentine forward.

But as Paulinho and Renato Augusto helped out by defending against the Argentine playmaker, the only opportunities Messi had were from free kicks near the penalty box.

Brazil coach Tite explained the strategy designed to make Messi feel so uncomfortable in his return after three games.

"We forced our way into the Argentina half more to the left so Messi wouldn't be immediately near the ball, since he was on the right," Tite said.

"When he was forced to move, it became better for us because that other side was already crowded."

Tite said Neymar was great because he was playing box to box with the same quality.

"One of the biggest lies in football is that if you mark you will not have the energy to do well up front," Tite said. "That is not the case."

Messi was disappointed with Argentina's performance, and said vast improvement will be needed to get the team into one of the four automatic qualifying positions for the World Cup.

"We can't repeat what we have been doing because that won't work," he said. "We have to change a lot."

Brazil and Argentina have been in contrasting form. Brazil has won its first five games under the coaching of Tite, while Edgardo Bauza's Argentina had draws against Venezuela and Peru and a 1-0 loss to Paraguay leading up to Thursday's defeat.

Brazil leads the South American qualifiers with 24 points from 11 matches, while Argentina is sixth with 16.

The top four teams automatically qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, while The fifth-place team advances to an intercontinental playoff.

Brazil visits eighth-place Peru and Argentina hosts third-place Colombia on Tuesday.

In September, Messi scored in a 1-0 victory over Uruguay in the only previous match under Bauza in this campaign.

Under former coaches Dunga and Argentina's Gerardo Martino, Brazil and Argentina drew 1-1 in Buenos Aires in their first 2018 qualifier, with Messi also absent and Neymar having a less impressive performance.