Lionel Messi is coming to the World Cup! The final 26-player roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was announced by the Argentine Football Association on Thursday, May 28, 2026, confirming Messi's presence at football's biggest tournament.
Football legend Lionel Messi will officially be at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Argentina has confirmed. There was much uncertainty about whether the World Champion will return to defend the trophy, given his age. However, all doubts have now come to an end.
Messi will play in a record sixth World Cup, having played every edition since 2006. The soon to be 39-year-old player is the one of only two male footballers to feature at six different World Cups. The second one is, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo, who has also been called up for Portugal at 41.
While Lionel Messi was included in Argentina's preliminary World Cup squad, he had a recent injury scare which made everyone worried. A few days ago, during Inter Miami's MLS match, he asked to be substituted after holding his left leg. Thankfully, it turned out to be a curable muscle issue in his left hamstring.
The Argentina has been in supreme form ahead of the World Cup despite his age. He has won every major trophy football has to offer, but a quest for a second World Cup glory is tempting. With most appearances by a player in the history of FIFA World Cup, Messi will definitely add more feathers to his hat in the coming days.
The 26-man Argentina squad for the upcoming World Cup features seventeen players from the country's winning campaign in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. With Lionel Scaloni returning as coach, stars of the previous World Cup including Emiliano Martínez, Julián Álvarez, Rodrigo de Paul, Lisandro Martinez will look forward to defending their title with all their might.
Notable absences from the squad include Marcos Acuña, Marcos Senesi, Emiliano Buendía, Franco Mastantuono while new names Nicolás Paz, Giuliano Simeone, and Valentín Barco have raised expectations.
The list of the 26-player squad for Argentina's 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign are as follows:
Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martínez, Gerónimo Rulli, Juan Musso
Defenders: Leonardo Balerdi, Nicolás Tagliafico, Gonzalo Montiel, Lisandro Martínez, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Facundo Medina, Nahuel Molina
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Valentín Barco, Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernández
Forwards: Julián Álvarez, Lionel Messi, Nico González, Thiago Almada, Giuliano Simeone, Nico Paz, Juan Manuel López, Lautaro Martínez
The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 11, 2026.
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