Can Lionel Messi deliver again for Argentina at his likely final World Cup?

PARIS – Lionel Messi will turn 39 during the upcoming World Cup and could have been forgiven for quitting international football after leading Argentina to glory in Qatar in 2022, but he remains his country’s talisman as they aim to retain the trophy.

The forward will again captain his country this summer, coach Lionel Scaloni announced on May 28 as he unveiled his 26-man squad.

The Barcelona legend somehow found another level four years ago as he scored seven goals and set up three more in seven games, including a brace in the epic final in Doha against France – when he also converted his penalty in the shoot-out which gave Argentina the trophy.

“Obviously I wanted to finish my career with this. I can’t ask for any more,” Messi said after that triumph, which seemed to mark the completion of his glorious career.

But he did admit he would like to play on a little longer as a world champion, and in the end, he kept going all the way to the 2026 tournament.

It will be a record sixth World Cup for Messi, and the decision to delay his retirement will have been a relief for Scaloni. There is no need, yet, to try to find a replacement for arguably the greatest player of all time.

“There can’t be. There won’t be. There won’t be an heir to Messi, for sure,” Scaloni said in an interview with Flashscore in September.

Messi is obviously not the player he once was, having left Europe in 2023 following an underwhelming two-season spell at Paris Saint-Germain.

He is no longer playing at the very highest level on a weekly basis – indeed, Messi has not won a Champions League knockout tie since 2020.

However, he is in fine form in Major League Soccer (MLS) for Inter Miami, for whom he has 13 goals in 16 games in all competitions in 2026, after helping them win the MLS Cup in 2025.

Assuming he overcomes a slight hamstring injury which recently forced him off against Philadelphia Union, he will lead Argentina in their opening game when they play Algeria in Kansas City on June 16.

Messi has already won more silverware with Argentina since the last World Cup, captaining the team to victory in the Copa America in the United States in 2024. He was the top scorer in South American World Cup qualifying, too.

“I love playing football, and I’m going to do it until I can’t any more,” he recently declared.

Argentina’s all-time top scorer is also their most-capped player and he is just two games away from reaching 200 appearances.

The Albiceleste kick off their World Cup against Algeria, before also taking on Austria and Jordan in Arlington, Texas, in Group J – the latter game takes place three days after his 39th birthday.

“We’re all fully aware that this could well be Leo’s last World Cup, given his age, but it’s his decision at the end of the day,” teammate Julian Alvarez said in an interview with FIFA.com.

“It’ll certainly make for a special World Cup and I don’t just mean for us, his teammates and the Argentinian people, but for everyone who watches and follows him, given that he’s the best player of all time.”

But the presence of Atletico Madrid forward Alvarez, 26, shows that Argentina need not be overly reliant on their ageing great.

Alvarez himself is a world-class talent in a squad including Serie A top scorer Lautaro Martinez, Nico Paz, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister, Cristian Romero and Emiliano Martinez.

The team’s marquee win in qualifying, a 4-1 home victory against Brazil, came without Messi.

“As an Argentinian, the excitement is always there and we always want to be crowned champions. There’s no reason for this time to be any different,” added Alvarez. AFP