As expected, the ailing Lionel Messi will lead defending champions Argentina as captain at the 2026 World Cup.
Messi had left his sixth World Cup participation open for a long time. A few days after being substituted due to injury in Inter Miami’s last game before the World Cup, national coach Lionel Scaloni announced the Argentina squad – with Messi. Messi is expected to take a break of around ten days due to overload. His left thigh had caused problems.
In addition to Messi, who will soon be 39 years old, the 2022 World Cup team also includes goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, who broke a finger while warming up in Aston Villa’s Europa League final against SC Freiburg. Media in Argentina assume that he will not be used in the friendly matches against Honduras and Iceland.
Algeria, Austria and Jordan as group opponents
In Group J, Argentina starts against Algeria on June 17th, with Austria and Jordan as their other opponents. The Argentinians will be based in Kansas City for their World Cup camp. In 2022, Argentina won the World Cup in the final against France in Qatar. For Messi, who played his first World Cup in Germany in 2006, it was the crowning achievement of his career at the fifth attempt. It was Argentina’s third World Cup win after 1978 and 1986.
The squad:
- Goal: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Geronimo Rulli (Olympique Marseille), Juan Musso (Atletico Madrid)
- Defense: Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Leonardo Balerdi (Olympique Marseille), Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur), Nicolas Tagliafico (Olympique Lyon), Facundo Medina (Olympique Marseille)
- Midfield: Giovani Lo Celso (Real Betis), Leandro Paredes (Boca Juniors), Rodrigo De Paul (Inter Miami), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea FC), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool FC), Valentín Barco (RC Strasbourg).
- Attack: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Nicolas Gonzalez (Atletico Madrid), Giuliano Simeone (Atletico Madrid), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan), Jose Manuel Lopez (Palmeiras), Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Almada (Atletico Madrid), Nico Paz (FC Como)
