(Buenos Aires) A year after his world title with Argentina, Albiceleste captain Lionel Messi once again raised the possibility of his participation in the 2026 World Cup, saying he wanted it “more than ever”, but admitting that “being realistic, it will be difficult.”
Asked, as in almost each of his outings, about his possible presence at the 2026 World Cup which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Messi reaffirmed that “the only thing [he] is thinking about today is well get to the Copa America” in June-July in the United States, a competition that Argentina won in 2021.
“Afterwards, time will tell whether I am or not” at the World Cup in 2026, he declared on the Star channel. “I’m going to reach an age [39] that normally wouldn’t allow me to compete in the World Cup.”
“I’ve said before that I didn’t think I’d be there, and it looked like I’d retire after the last World Cup, but it’s quite the opposite. Now I want to be there more than ever,” admits Messi of the 2026 deadline.
It is to date his strongest declaration of intent on his desire to continue, if he can, until 2026. Since the 2022 title, Messi, 36, has always repeated that he will take his future with day-to-day selection based on your condition, without planning ahead.
“I’m not thinking about the World Cup, and I’m not saying 100% that I won’t be there, because anything can happen,” he told Star again. “Because of my age, the most normal thing would be that I don’t don’t be there. Then we’ll see how far it can go. Maybe we will do well at the Copa America, and everything will come together to continue. Maybe not. Being realistic, it will be difficult,” he concedes.
“After so many years of suffering, today we are experiencing a special moment like I have never experienced, and I want to take full advantage of it,” says Messi of the pleasure he is currently having in the selection. “I want to enjoy all this, without thinking about two or three years, which in football is a very long time.”
Argentina will finish 2023 as leader of South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, with 15 points out of 18 possible. The playoffs resume in September 2024.
After the recent victory in Brazil (1-0), coach Lionel Scaloni surprised by casting doubt on his future. Without announcing his resignation, he declared that it was “time to think”, and that the team “needs a coach who has all the energy possible and who is doing well”.