Lionel Messi will play in a sixth World Cup after captaining holders Argentina at the 2026 tournament.The forward, who will turn 39 during the competition, was named in Lionel Scaloni’s 26-man squad on Thursday after leading his country to a third World Cup triumph in Qatar four years ago with a penalty shoot-out victory over France.
With 26 appearances, Messi currently holds the record for the most World Cup matches played by any footballer. He will join Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, as the only male players to appear in six editions of football’s biggest tournament this summer. Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martínez, who was named goalkeeper of the tournament in 2022, has been selected, along with Manchester United’s Lisandro Martínez and Tottenham Hotspur’s Cristian Romero, who missed the end of the Premier League season with a knee injury.
Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister and Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández are also among the five Premier League-based players in the squad for the finals, which will be held across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Atlético Madrid’s Julián Álvarez and Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martínez are among the 17 players returning from the 2022 World Cup-winning squad as Argentina bid to retain the trophy. Argentina are in Group J and begin their campaign in Kansas City against Algeria on Wednesday, 17 June (02:00 BST), before facing Austria in Dallas on Monday, 22 June (18:00 BST) and Jordan on Sunday, 28 June (02:00 BST).
Messi was substituted during Inter Miami’s latest Major League Soccer match on Monday, but the club confirmed he had not suffered an injury and was instead experiencing “muscle fatigue” in his left hamstring. He has made 198 appearances for Argentina and will reach the 200-cap milestone if he features in both of his country’s upcoming friendly matches — against Honduras in Texas on Sunday, 7 June (01:00 BST) and Iceland in Alabama on Tuesday, 9 June.
Notable absentees include in-form Aston Villa attacker Emi Buendía, whose Europa League final strike was named goal of the tournament, Roma forward Paulo Dybala, whose season has been disrupted by injury, and 18-year-old Real Madrid winger Franco Mastantuono. Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni also misses out. Despite earning one senior cap, FIFA ruled he would be suspended for the opening two matches of the tournament after abusing Vinícius Júnior.
Argentina World Cup Squad Goalkeepers
Juan Musso (Atlético Madrid), Gerónimo Rulli (Marseille), Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa).
Defenders
Leonardo Balerdi (Marseille), Nicolás Tagliafico (Lyon), Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate), Lisandro Martínez (Manchester United), Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur), Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica), Facundo Medina (Marseille), Nahuel Molina (Atlético Madrid).
Midfielders
Leandro Paredes (River Plate), Rodrigo de Paul (Inter Miami), Valentín Barco (Strasbourg), Giovani Lo Celso (Real Betis), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Enzo Fernández (Chelsea).
Forwards
Julián Álvarez (Atlético Madrid), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Nicolás González (Atlético Madrid), Thiago Almada (Atlético Madrid), Giuliano Simeone (Atlético Madrid), Nico Paz (Como), José Manuel López (Palmeiras), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan).