I Don’t Want To Be A Burden To Argentina At W’Cup—Messi

Lionel Messi has expressed his desire to feature at the 2026 World Cup, provided he is fit enough to represent his country in the FIFA tournament.

The Inter Miami star admitted that he is tempted by the opportunity to play in the tournament, but he will only do so if he feels capable of helping Argentina on football’s biggest stage.

Messi is presently with the Argentina national team training in Spain for their friendly match against Angola.

He led Argentina to qualify for the tournament, which is billed to be held in the United States of America, Canada, and Mexico.

The defending champions topped the South American World Cup qualifying group with 38 points from 18 matches, winning 12, drawing two, and losing four while scoring 31 goals and conceding 10.

Messi scored seven goals and recorded three assists to help his country qualify for the World Cup, which is expected to be his sixth tournament.

He has scored 36 goals in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, making him the highest scorer of the qualification in CONMEBOL.

He has, however, said that he does not want to be a burden to the team at the tournament.

Messi said, “It’s a special World Cup. Playing with the national team in important competitions is always special, and even more so after winning a World Cup.

“But as I told you, I don’t want to be a burden. I want to feel physically well and be sure that I can help the group and contribute to the team.

“Our season here is different from Europe’s. We’ll have preseason in between, a few matches before the World Cup, and I’ll see day by day how I’m feeling physically, whether I’m in the condition I want to be in to participate.

“I’m happy with how these years have gone, and on the field, as long as I can and feel good physically, I’m going to keep doing it the same way, trying to compete, to win, and to always give my all.

“The moment I see that I’m not physically up to it, that I’m struggling on the field, or that I’m not enjoying it, that will be the moment to call it quits, but right now I’m enjoying it, I feel good, and that’s where we are.”

Messi holds numerous FIFA World Cup records, including most matches played (26), most minutes played (2,314), and the most Player of the Match awards (11).

He is the only player to have scored in every knockout round of a single tournament (2022), has the most World Cup assists(5), and has the biggest gap between his first and last goal (over 16 years).

Messi also holds the record for most direct goal contributions (22: 13 goals, 9 assists) and most matches played as captain (19).

He has scored 13 goals in FIFA World Cup tournaments, a record for Argentina.

Messi scored one goal in 2006, four in 2014, one in 2018, and seven in 2022.

He scored seven goals and recorded three assists to lead Argentina to their third World Cup trophy in 2022 when they defeated France 4-2 on penalties in the final.