JAKARTA - Argentina National Team (Timnas) coach Lionel Scaloni said Lionel Messi showed an improvement from muscle fatigue in his left hamstring ahead of the team's debut at the 2026 World Cup on June 16, 2026.
The 38-year-old suffered the injury on May 25, 2026 while playing his last match with Inter Miami before joining the Argentina national team.
"Leo is fine. Leo is training with the group in part, which is important. He hasn't fully recovered. He is getting better. He will probably take part in the friendly match, get some minutes of play."
"We'll see. He's much better and that gives us peace of mind," Scaloni said.
Argentina beat Honduras 2-0 on Sunday, June 7, 2026 WIB, at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, in the first friendly match before concluding preparations for the 2026 World Cup.
In that match, Messi was not brought down at all even though he was on the bench.
The Tango team still has one warm-up match against Iceland in Auburn, Alabama, on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, before plunging into the 2026 World Cup.
So far, there are still injured Argentine players, but they have been training separately, such as Leandro Paredes, Nahuel Molina, Nico Paz, and Gonzalo Montiel.
Compared to Messi's condition, the four players are unlikely to play in the last friendly match. Scaloni said he didn't want to take any risks.
"The players who trained separately are getting better. When we submitted the list of players, we knew their condition."
"They are fine, but we don't want to take any risks by letting them participate in this friendly match."
"The idea is that they don't play in this friendly. In the match against Iceland there is a possibility for someone to participate, but that's the situation," said Scaloni.
Scaloni then confirmed that the team would not hesitate to replace injured players in the 26-man World Cup 2026 roster if necessary.
"It can happen. Today we feel the players are in good condition, but for sure if there is one of them not available, they will be left out."
"We have understood it clearly. For now, they are playing well, but we continue to monitor them. When the decisive stage arrives, that is, the last week, where they have to improve their performance to see if they are 100 percent fit, that is when we will decide even though it will be very painful if there is a player who has to be absent," said Scaloni.
Argentina will begin defending the World Cup title against Algeria on June 16, 2026 in Kansas City before facing Austria and Jordan in Group J.
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