Lionel Messi is recovering well from a recent muscle injury and could feature in Argentina’s final World Cup warm-up games, coach Lionel Scaloni said on Friday.
Messi, 38, suffered a muscle injury while playing for Inter Miami in a 6-4 Major League Soccer win over Philadelphia Union 10 days ago, raising concerns about his fitness ahead of the World Cup.
Reigning world champions Argentina play Honduras in Texas on Saturday before playing Iceland in Alabama on Tuesday in the final friendlies before the World Cup.
«Leo is doing well, he has already trained with the group for part of the session and that is significant. He is no longer training separately,» Scaloni said at a press conference in the United States.
«He’s improving tremendously and could even play a few minutes in one of the (warm-up) games. We’ll see if it’s this one or the next, but he’s much better and that gives us peace of mind.»
With Messi set to play in his sixth World Cup, Scaloni also narrated the conversation in which he told Argentina’s captain he had been selected for the squad.
“I messaged him and he told me he would wait for the roster to see if he was called up,” Scaloni said with a smile. «I told him, ‘You’ve been called.’ That’s how it happened.”
Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title in Qatar.
The World Cup, which is co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, runs from June 11 to July 19. Argentina opens its title defense against Algeria on June 16 before facing Austria and Jordan in Group J.
Published on June 6, 2026
