Lionel Messi is not ruling out playing for Argentina at the 2026 World Cup, but admitted age will make it difficult to compete in the tournament.
Messi, who will turn 39 during the next World Cup, had said last year that the 2022 tournament in Qatar would be his last. However, with Argentina going on to lift the trophy in December, Messi has now suggested he is open to competing in the United States, Canada and Mexico in three years’ time.
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“Because of age it’ll be difficult to make 2026,” Messi told Argentine publication Diario Olé. “I love playing football and while I feel like I’m in good shape and enjoying this, I’m going to keep at it. It seems like a long time until the next World Cup, but it depends on how my career is going.”
Encouragement for Messi to play another World Cup has also come from Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni.
“I think Messi can make it to the next World Cup,” Scaloni told Spanish radio Calvia FM last month. “It will depend a lot on what he wants and what happens over time, that he feels good. The doors will always be open. He is happy on the pitch, and for us [it] would be good.”
