Argentina have given a sign about Lionel Messi featuring in the 2026 World Cup after making an announcement on their squad on Monday.
Messi retired from international football in 2016, before returning ahead of the 2018 World Cup. He won the 2021 Copa America with his nation, and led them to glory in 2022.
Four years down the line, there's speculation about retirement once and for all, but though the superstar's powers are waning, Messi might have one final World Cup in him.
Argentina have given the latest sign that Inter Miami star Messi will be involved in the tournament in North America, including him in their 55-man preliminary long list.
That's the first selection prior to the tournament, which then gets cut down to 23 to 26 players, becoming official in June 2.
Messi, now 38, hasn't struggled for form prior to Argentina's long list being released, with 13 direct goal contributions to his name in 2025-26.
There are as many as 31 midfielders and attackers in the preliminary squad, which is more than the amount of players which will be in the final squad in its entirety, so the majority of those won't be present.
But after starring in the 2022 edition of the World Cup and maintaining his fitness in the last four years, it's hoped by many that Messi will indeed feature in what is almost certain to be his final major tournament with Argentina.
Messi will play if fit
In October, Messi revealed that if he's in good shape come the World Cup, he'll be there.
He said: “The truth is that yes, it’s something extraordinary to be able to be in a World Cup. And I would like to be there. To feel well and to be an important part of helping my national team, if I am there.
“And I’m going to assess that on a day-to-day basis when I start pre-season next year with Inter and see if I can really be 100 per cent.”
Messi has been rested for one MLS game so far this season and has played the full 90 minutes in the other 11, so he's seemingly tuning up quite nicely for the World Cup.
Whether he plays as important a role as he did four years ago remains to be seen, but seeing arguably the greatest footballer of all time grace the World Cup stage one more time will be something sweet for fans across the globe.
