'He Will Decide It': Argentina Hopeful For Lionel Messi To Play 2026 World Cup Despite Team Winning Without Inter Miami Star

Lionel Messi was at the top of the world in 2022 as he ended the GOAT debate and finally lifted the FIFA World Cup after years of trying to win the biggest trophy in football. Lionel Messi who had lost the 2014 World Cup final to Germany, faced off against France in the 2022 Finals and was able to lead his Argentina team to victory on penalties. Now as the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaches, Lionel Messi will be 38 years old at the time of the tournament. Despite this, Argentina are hopeful that the 8 time Ballon D'Or winner decides to play in the tournament. 

Argentina Coach On Messi Playing In 2026 World Cup 

Argentina are currently playing the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as they thrashed Brazil 4-1 despite Lionel Messi not playing in the match. As the tournament draws closer and closer, the question mark grows bigger regarding whether Messi will play in the 2026 World Cup. 

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni provided some insight into the matter as he stated that it's up to Messi to decide whether he will feature in the 2026 World Cup or not. 

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“We will see what happens, there’s plenty of time. We must go one game a time otherwise (we) will be speaking about the same thing the rest of the year and we need to leave him alone, we will see. He will decide it whenever he wants, let’s not drive him crazy with this,” said Lionel Scaloni on whether Messi will play in the 2026 World Cup. 

Argentina Players Hopeful Of Lionel Messi's Return For 2026 WC 

Argentina defeated two South America heavyweights- Uruguay and Brazil in back to back matches without Lionel Messi. Despite this, the Argentine players are hopeful for the 8 time Ballon D'Or winners return. Striker Julian Alvarez following the win over Brazil stated that with Messi that would have scored two or three goals more.  

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“With Messi we might have scored two or three more goals,” said Julian Alvarez. 

Midfielder Rodrigo De Paul also weighed in on the matter as he stated that Argentina play at their best when No. 10 (Messi) is playing. 

“The best of our teams is always when the No. 10 is playing because he is the greatest of all time,” said Rodrigo De Paul.