Is Lionel Messi Playing In the 2026 World Cup? What the Argentina Star Has Said

Is Lionel Messi playing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup? That's the question on everyone's minds entering next summer's 48-team tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Messi, who will turn 39 years old next summer, has represented Argentina at five different World Cups and holds the all-time record for World Cup appearances (26), surpassing Germany's Lothar Matthäus in 2022. After Messi finally won the World Cup in 2022 and cemented his status as one of the all-time greats, many had assumed that he wouldn't play in 2026.

While that might still be the case, Messi has kept the door open for 2026.

"It’s special to play with the national team, especially in major official competitions, and even more so considering what a World Cup means, especially after having won it," Messi told Spanish publication SPORT.  "But as I was saying, I don’t want to be a burden, so to speak. I want to feel physically fit, to be sure I can help and contribute to the team."

Messi is currently in good form, coming off of a season in which he led Major League Soccer in goals (26) and assists (19). His club, Inter Miami CF, finished third in the Eastern Conference, but he led them to their first-ever MLS Cup title with two assists in the final.

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Inter Miami will have a three-month layoff following the MLS Cup final before the season picks back up in February. Whether Messi plays in 2026 will depend on how he feels in the lead-up to the tournament.

"Our season is different from the European one," Messi said. "We’ll have a pre-season in between, with few matches leading up to the World Cup, and we’ll see how things go day by day to see if I really feel physically fit enough to be where I’d like to be and be able to participate."

If Messi steps on the pitch for Argentina at the 2026 World Cup, he will become the first men's player to play in six different World Cups; the only other players to appear in at least six different World Cups are Brazil's Formiga (7) and Marta (6).

FIFA has not announced the official deadline for World Cup roster submissions, but it is typically in the month before the tournament starts. The World Cup starts on Wednesday, June 11 and will run through the final on Sunday, July 19.

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