Lionel Messi has taken it day by day on his journey to the FIFA World Cup 26™. Since getting his hands on the famed trophy at Lusail Stadium on 18 December 2022, Argentina’s captain has bided his time and kept his cards close to his chest over whether he will play at the tournament to be held in Canada, Mexico and the United States next year.
Since then, we have been reminded that, despite some obvious signs of slowing down, the pint-sized star remains one of the best players in the game. Moreover, Messi, whose side have made light work of qualifying, is champing at the bit to feature in Argentina’s final two South American preliminary matches and seems to be spurred on by what motivates him most: new challenges, goals and records.
Sitting pretty at the top of the CONMEBOL standings with 35 points, ten ahead of second-placed Ecuador, Lionel Scaloni’s side, who clinched qualification back in March this year, can afford to take their foot off the pedal in the final two matches and experiment. This is likely to provide opportunities for the likes of Porto’s Alan Varela and Palmeiras’s Jose Manuel Lopez.
After wrapping up their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with clashes against Venezuela on 4 September and Ecuador five days later, Argentina will turn their focus to defending their title at the main event, which kicks off on 11 June 2026. At 38, Messi is on the cusp of breaking even more records in the run-up to the competition.
Throughout his career, the Argentine has featured in 71 South American World Cup qualifying matches, leaving him just one outing short of Ecuador’s Ivan Hurtado’s record. Argentina’s clash with La Vinotinto at the Estadio Mas Monumental could see the attacker equal that total.
It promises to be a special occasion, as it could be Messi’s final match in Buenos Aires, a city that has watched on – mostly in awe – ever since the first time he lined up for the Albiceleste there, in a 2005 qualifier against Peru. Since then, the diminutive ace has experienced something of a rollercoaster journey and an occasionally rocky relationship with the Argentinian supporters.
Firstly, the hailing of a long-awaited new “Messi-ah” in his early days; secondly, the disappointment over a star who had yet to fully shine; and finally, the excitement when he found his form on the biggest stage and took the world by storm. Nowadays, fans can simply sit back and enjoy being in the presence of one of the greatest players in the history of the game and pay tribute to him.
After holding the World Cup Trophy aloft in Qatar, Messi said, “I’ve said that after the World Cup I’d have to reassess lots of things in my life, and I’m still not sure. To be honest, I’m just taking it one step at a time, and I’ll decide what to do at a later date. I mean, I never once envisaged playing for a club other than Barcelona, and then, out of nowhere, I had to up sticks and leave. Football’s very unpredictable, and you never know what’s around the corner. Truth be told, the odds are stacked against me, but I haven’t made any decision just yet.”
Messi will turn 39 during next year’s World Cup. If he does take part, he will become the first-ever player to grace six editions of the competition – although, fittingly, he could end up sharing that distinction with old foe Cristiano Ronaldo if Portugal qualify and the man from Madeira does not hang his boots up beforehand. La Pulga already holds the records for the most World Cup appearances overall and the most matches as captain. The only player to have won two adidas Golden Balls at the global showpiece, he could also equal Miroslav Klose as the tournament’s top scorer if he gets himself on the scoresheet three times.
“Messi is experienced enough to know whether he’s going to be up for the World Cup. He knows the door is open and he’s absolutely vital. We have to let time run its course and hope he’ll be there, but it’s not something for us to worry about right now because we know he sees things very clearly,” Scaloni said earlier this year.
In the 2026 qualifiers, Messi has found the back of the net on six occasions and held the position of top scorer for a long period. However, Luis Diaz’s scintillating performances have seen him eclipse the Argentine, leaving Messi just one goal behind. With 34 goals to his name, the 38-year-old is the all-time top scorer in the South American World Cup preliminaries, despite never once topping the scoring charts in a single campaign.
The closest he came was in the run-up to the Brazil 2014, when he bagged ten goals, one shy of Luis Suarez’s total. In the next qualifying campaign, he scored seven times, finishing three adrift of another Uruguayan striker, Edinson Cavani. Messi repeated that tally on the road to Qatar 2022, this time ending up joint-fourth in the standings and again trailing the leading marksman, Bolivia’s Marcelo Moreno, by three goals.
As he aims to win more silverware and set new records at Inter Miami, where he has been reunited with his friend and international team-mate De Paul, Messi is showing no indication of throwing in the towel. It goes without saying that the FIFA World Cup 26 looms on the horizon, so the final two matchdays of the South American qualifying campaign look set to have an extra edge. The irrepressible record-breaker is hungry for more.
