Lionel Messi Rejoins Argentina for Key World Cup Qualifiers

In the ten days that follow, Lionel Messi will don his Argentina shirt once more for two games with his cherished national team before captaining Inter Miami in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Messi joined the defending World Cup winners for their 2026 tournament qualification matches in Argentina on Monday morning.

A photo of Messi arriving to Argentina’s headquarters was captioned “¡Buenos diÁas, capitán!” or “good morning, captain.”.

Argentina will travel to Chile on June 5 at 9 p.m. ET at Santiago, Chile’s Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez PraÁdanos.e. Next, on June 10 at 8 p.m. ET, Argentina will play Colombia, a matchup between the 2024 Copa America finalists, within Mâs Monumental in Buenos Aires.

The FIFA international break between the MLS season and the Club World Cup coincides with both games.

Messi is leading Inter Miami from sixth to third place in the MLS Eastern Conference after one of his best runs of the 2025 MLS season, in which he scored five goals in his last three games.

When healthy, Messi has historically participated for the national team while playing for Inter Miami, including two games prior to the MLS Cup playoffs the previous season. The timing of these two matches could hardly be more different.

On June 14, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, Messi and Inter Miami will play the opening match of the Club World Cup against the Egyptian team Al Alhy. Additionally, on June 19 they will play FC Porto (Portugal) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, and on June 23, they will travel to Miami for their last group stage match against SE Palmeiras (Brazil).

Before to the MLS Cup playoffs last year, Messi played for Argentina. On October 11, 2024, he was scoreless in a 1-1 tie with Venezuela, but on October 15, 2024, he burst with a hat trick and two assists in a 6-0 triumph against Bolivia.

Messi’s last appearance for the national team was in November 2024, when he assisted Lautaro Martinez in Argentina’s 1-0 victory against Peru and went scoreless in their 2-1 loss to Paraguay on November 14.

Messi was rehabilitating from an adductor strain in March, which prevented him from playing for Argentina in games against Uruguay and Brazil. Argentina defeated Brazil 4-1 on March 25 after defeating Uruguay 1-0 on March 21.

Later this year, Argentina will host Venezuela on September 9 and travel to Ecuador on September 14 for two more World Cup qualifying matches.

Messi has not yet announced if he would represent Argentina in the 2026 World Cup, which will be held by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.