Lionel Messi will play in his sixth World Cup in 2026 as captain of the holders Argentina.
The 38-year-old ahead, who led his nation to a 3rd World Cup title with a penalty shoot-out victory over France in Qatar 4 years in the past, was named in coach Lionel Scaloni’s 26-man squad on Thursday.
With 26 appearances, Messi holds the file for probably the most video games performed by a participant on the World Cup and can be part of Portuguese ahead Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, as the one males to function within the sixth version of this summer season’s greatest soccer occasion.
Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez has been named goalkeeper for the 2022 match, in addition to Manchester United and Tottenham defenders Lisandro Martinez and Cristian Romero, respectively.
Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister and Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandes are additionally amongst 5 UK-based gamers included within the squad for the finals, which will probably be held in america, Canada and Mexico.
Argentina are in Group J and can start their marketing campaign with a match in opposition to Algeria in Kansas Metropolis (Wednesday 17 June, 2am BST), adopted by two video games in Dallas in opposition to Austria (Monday 22 June, 18:00 BST) and Jordan (Sunday 28 June, 2am BST).
Messi got here off the bench in Inter Miami’s newest Main League Soccer match on Monday, however the membership introduced he was not injured and was affected by “muscle pressure” in his left hamstring.
He has performed 198 instances for Argentina and can attain 200 appearances if he performs in each of his nation’s friendlies in opposition to Honduras in Texas (Sunday 7 June, 01:00 BST) and Iceland in Alabama (Tuesday 9 June).
argentina world cup nationwide group
Goalkeeper: Juan Musso (Atletico Madrid), Geronimo Lulli (Marseille), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa).
Defender: Leonardo Balerdi (Marseille), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Gonzalo Montiel (Riber Plate), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Facundo Medina (Marseille), Nahuel Molina (Atlético Madrid).
Midfielder: Leandro Paredes (River Plate), Rodrigo de Paul (Inter Miami), Valentin Barco (Strasbourg), Giovani Lo Celso (Actual Betis), Ezequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Enzo Fernandes (Chelsea).
ahead: Julián Álvarez (Atletico Madrid), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Nicolás González (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Almada (Atletico Madrid), Giuliano Simeone (Atletico Madrid), Nico Paz (Como), Jose Manuel López (Palmeiras), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan).
