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Argentina has bitter memories of 1994, the last time the United States hosted the World Cup.
After the second group stage match, national icon Diego Maradona was expelled from the tournament due to a positive doping test. Maradona would never play another World Cup match, and Argentina was eliminated in the round of 16.
Thirty-two years later, the South American powerhouse is hoping for a happier ending for Maradona’s heir, Lionel Messi, who is turning 39 this month and is widely expected to retire from international soccer after the curtain comes down on the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S. is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada.
If he and Argentina manage to keep the World Cup trophy they won four years ago in Qatar, they will become the first team to win back-to-back titles since Brazil in 1962. It would also strengthen the claim of those who already call Messi the greatest player of all time.
“I love playing football and I’m going to do it until I can’t anymore,” Messi told Argentine broadcast journalist Joaquín “Pollo” Alvarez in a YouTube interview. “I’m competitive, I like to win at everything, I don’t even let my kids win at video games sometimes. It’s just my nature and what led me to achieve everything I have.”
After more than 20 years playing for Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami, Messi’s body is showing signs of wear. A week ahead of what will be his record sixth World Cup, he is recovering from a hamstring problem that led to his substitution during Inter Miami’s final match before the tournament on May 24.
The Argentina captain worked out on his own at the team’s base camp in Kansas City this week.
“We all would have liked Messi to arrive without any problems, but that’s not the case. Not only him, most of the players aren’t fully recovered yet,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni told DSports, a Latin American TV network.
Fitness Concerns
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, hero of two penalty shootouts in 2022, including the final against France, suffered a fracture to the ring finger of his right hand during the Europa League final while playing for Aston Villa.
Defender Cristian “Cuti” Romero is recovering from a knee injury he picked up in mid-April while playing for Tottenham. Right backs Nahuel Molina and Gonzalo Montiel are dealing with muscle injuries as is midfielder Leandro Paredes.
Argentina, also champion in 1978 and 1986, will play its first group stage match on June 16 against Algeria in Kansas City. Next up in Group J are Austria on June 22 and Jordan on June 27 in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas.
Scaloni is relying on 17 of the 26 players who won the World Cup in 2022, even though several are not in peak physical condition.
“Why change them if they don’t deserve that? We’ve always been honest with them. The players who are here today have shown us they want to be here. And secondly, their level hasn’t dropped,” Scaloni said.
Argentina won the Copa América in 2024 and finished top of the South American World Cup qualifying group.
Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez is key to Scaloni’s attack, while Barcelona, Arsenal, and PSG are reportedly vying for his signature for next season. The coach has also brought in three debutants: midfielder Valentin Barco, who recently signed for Chelsea, and forwards Nicolas Paz, a key player for Como in Italy, and Juan Manuel López, the top scorer for Brazilian club Palmeiras.
A notable absence compared to four years ago is Angel Di Maria, who retired from the national team in 2024. Besides Messi, he was instrumental in Argentina’s success in Qatar.
“It’s impossible to fill Di María’s shoes. He and Messi are irreplaceable,” Scaloni said.
A future without Messi is hard to imagine
Always soft-spoken, Messi has tried to lower expectations of another World Cup title.
“We have to get excited, like Argentines always do, but we also have to know that there are other favorites ahead of us who are in better form,” he said.
Messi already holds the record for most World Cup matches (26) and needs four more goals to surpass Germany’s Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 World Cup goals.
While he hasn’t explicitly said he will retire from the national team after the World Cup, he dropped a big hint last September when he talked about the team’s qualifying match against Venezuela in Buenos Aires as his last competitive home game for Argentina.
“It was very emotional, knowing this was my last competitive match here,” he said after the game at the Monumental Stadium. “I’ve been through a lot in this stadium — some great moments and some difficult ones — but it’s always special to play in front of our fans.”
Scaloni, like most Argentines, also gets emotional when thinking about a national team without Messi.
“I like to think he’s going to keep playing because otherwise you get sad, like what happened with Diego (Maradona),” Scaloni said in an interview published on the website of South American soccer confederation CONMEBOL. “They are players who have made history in football and thinking that they won’t play anymore doesn’t leave you at peace. I prefer to think about the present.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
