Argentine superstar Lionel Messi said a little over a month before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar that it will be his final. The 35-year-old is going to his sixth World Cup, where he hopes to finally win it all. It was the first time he had discussed what comes next after the event, which starts on November 20.
It is expected that Argentina, who are now 35 games undefeated, and the Paris Saint-German's ace would make a great showing in the Middle East. After La Albiceleste's heartbreaking loss to Germany in the 2014 World Cup Final, the forward has said that this year's tournament would be his fifth and last opportunity to lead his nation to their first World Cup victory since 1986.
"If it is my last World Cup? Yes, surely yes, surely yes. I feel good physically, I can have a very good pre-season this year that I hadn't done the year before because of how everything went, I started training late, playing without rhythm, with the tournament already started, then I went to the national team, when I came back I had an injury and I never finished starting," he told Star+ at the beginning of October.
Could Lionel Messi's most recent injury rule him out of World Cup?
The possibility of an injury keeping Lionel Messi out of the World Cup this year has been confirmed by the Argentine star. The Paris Saint-Germain attacker has expressed doubts about his fitness as the world championship approaches in little over a month.
Due to the absence of both Angel Di Maria and Paulo Dybala, Lionel Scaloni's team are already in the midst of an injury problem. The veteran is hoping to make his comeback to the PSG squad for Sunday's Classique match against Marseille after sitting out the team's last two games with a calf injury.
When interviewed by DirecTV Sports, Leo said: “Injuries are a worry. This is a different World Cup which is played at a different time of the year to previous tournaments and it is so imminent any little thing that happens to you can force you out. With what happened to Dybala and Di Maria, the truth is that personally you worry and you’re more afraid when you see those sort of things."
Messi's status for the match against Marseille at the Parc des Princes was originally uncertain, with the player apparently informing his entourage that he was not willing to take any additional chances before the World Cup. Then he was seen participating in Friday morning's training session, and coach Christophe Galtier said in his pregame news conference that he anticipates the Argentine's full participation.