‘I have no doubt Lionel Messi will play at the World Cup – he’s fully capable of continuing as a leader for the national team’ Argentina great tells FFT that Inter Miami star can keep on shining on the global stage next summer

Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates with the FIFA World Cup trophy during celebrations after an international friendly match between Argentina and Panama at Estadio Más Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti on March 23, 2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Lionel Messi celebrates his 39th birthday during the 2026 World Cup – and it’s still yet to be confirmed whether he will feature at the tournament.

Cristiano Ronaldo has announced that the event will be his final World Cup, having qualified for the tournament with Portugal.

Messi, though, has said for some time that he would wait and see whether he features, wanting to see how he feels, despite captaining Argentina during qualifying.

Argentina legend tips Messi to keep going

Lionel Messi won MLS with Inter Miami recently (Image credit: Getty Images)

Messi won the World Cup with Argentina in 2022, and recently helped Inter Miami become MLS champions for the first time.

His national team debut came as far back as 2005, six years before the international retirement of Javier Zanetti.

Lionel Messi, Hernan Crespo, Javier Zanetti and Juan Riquelme in the Argentina team

Now 52, Zanetti told FourFourTwo that he thinks Messi will decide to play at the World Cup.

“That has to be his decision, but I think yes,” he said, speaking as part of the launch of the MagiCup youth tournament, which will take place in early June at Walt Disney World in Florida.

“There are only a few months to go, and I believe he also wants to represent his country again. I have no doubt it will happen.”

Ronaldo has faced question marks about whether he should still be in the Portugal side at 40, but Zanetti has dismissed any suggestions that Messi – two years Ronaldo’s junior – may also be too old now to lead one of the top nations at the tournament.

“I don’t agree with that,” he said. “Messi is fully capable of continuing as a leader. He’s intelligent, knows better than anyone how to interpret what the team needs, and is surrounded by great players in the national team. I’m convinced that with him, Argentina will be a major contender again at the next World Cup.”

Asked when the point may come that Messi is no longer able to influence the Argentina team, Zanetti said: “I don’t know if that can be seen in the short term, but I think the time has come for Messi to enjoy football. The most important thing now is that he enjoys what he does.

“The World Cup will surely be an important testing ground to see how he feels, and then he’ll decide, calmly, whether to continue.”

The MagiCup takes place between June 1 and 5 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Florida, backed by legends of the game from Zanetti and Rivaldo, to Didier Drogba, Andriy Shevchenko and Ivan Cordoba. For more information, via magicup.com