Lionel Messi won't close door on playing in 2026 World Cup with Argentina

Although Lionel Messi said his 2022 World Cup run would be his last, Messi left the door open to possibly playing in the 2026 World Cup with Argentina, during a wide-ranging interview with Infobae.co published Friday.

Messi, who turns 37 in June 24, will captain the defending 2021 Copa América and 2022 World Cup champions again this summer, in what could likely be his final major tournament played for his beloved home country.

He’ll be 39 when the next World Cup is underway. But soccer fans around the world, especially in Argentina, want to know if Messi will compete again when the United States, Canada and Mexico host the tournament.

“It depends on how I feel, how I am physically and being realistic with myself. And to know if I am up to the task of being able to compete and help the colleagues next to me,” said Messi, the Inter Miami star in Major League Soccer.

“There's a while left and I don't know how I'm going to be at that moment,” Messi said.

“Age is also a reality that is there, although it is a number, the games that I am going to play, are not the same as the ones I played when I was in Europe in competition, which were every three days, or in the Champions League or in the League where I was, both in France and in Spain. But it depends on how I feel and how I feel when I'm next to my teammates and see if I'm still up to the task or not.”

Messi says he lives in a state of “tranquility” after his World Cup win in Qatar, and still hasn’t watched a replay of the victory against France outside of a few match highlights.

“My memories are all here and I live it the way I have it here and I remember what I remember. There are many things that escape me, but well, for now I'm keeping what I have without going over it,” Messi said. “I looked at repetitions of a lot of plays, but of the game, of the 90 minutes, of extra time, penalties and all that, no.”

Messi discussed a number of topics during the interview, including his late grandmother, how his wife and family have adjusted to life in the United States since moving to South Florida last July, he doesn’t believe his old Barcelona teammate Neymar can also join him at Inter Miami, and his outlook on soccer after his World Cup victory.

“Obviously having won and having achieved the whole goal at the National Team level, you live differently, with another tranquility,” Messi said of his World Cup victory.

Messi and Argentina will take center stage in the Copa América opener against Canada in Atlanta on June 20. They’ll play against Chile at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on June 25, and against Peru at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on June 29. The final is set for July 14 in Miami.

But first, Messi and Argentina will play two friendlies in the next week, meeting Ecuador at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sunday, then Guatemala at Commanders Field in Landover, Maryland, on June 14.

Argentina has been preparing in South Florida for this month’s Copa América at Inter Miami — Messi’s fútbol home for nearly the past year since joining Major League Soccer in the United States.

Asked about Argentina being a favorite in the tournament, Messi said:

“I think that Argentina is always a favorite, beyond the fact that we come from winning all that. Previously, when it was not given that we could achieve the objectives, also Argentina was always a favorite,” Messi said.

“When a championship starts, whether it is the World Cup, Copa América or whatever, Argentina is a candidate just like Brazil and more in this Copa América. But I think that today the South American national teams are very strong. Uruguay is very good, Colombia, Ecuador. Then it becomes very difficult to play all the games, but I think it will be a very equal Copa América.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lionel Messi leaves door open to play in 2026 World Cup with Argentina