Argentina are proving they can thrive without Lionel Messi, preparing for the possibility he may skip the 2026 World Cup.
With their place in next year’s tournament secured, the big question now is whether the 37-year-old legend will make his sixth appearance and pursue back-to-back titles.
“We will see what happens; there’s plenty of time,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “We must take it one game at a time; otherwise, we will be talking about the same thing the rest of the year, and we need to leave him alone. He will decide whenever he wants. Let’s not drive him crazy with this.”
On Tuesday, hours after Argentina qualified for the 2026 World Cup, the team handed Brazil their worst-ever loss in World Cup qualifying – a 4-1 thrashing. That came just days after Argentina’s 1-0 victory at Uruguay.
Both victories came without Messi. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner had been ruled out after sustaining a low-grade adductor muscle injury.
Messi, who captained Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title in Qatar, has been sidelined several times by Inter Miami this season due to injury concerns.
His Argentina teammates left no doubt about their hopes for Messi to return.
“With Messi, we might have scored two or three more goals,” said striker Julian Alvarez, who scored one goal against Brazil.
Bolivia’s failure to beat Uruguay on Tuesday assured Argentina – who lead the South American qualifiers with 31 points – of one of the continent’s six direct spots for the 48-team World Cup to be co-hosted next year by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
After Tuesday’s big win at Monumental de Nunez Stadium, midfielder Rodrigo de Paul seemed to speak for the whole country.
“The best of our teams is always when the No. 10 is playing,” De Paul said, “because he is the greatest of all time.”
