Lionel Scaloni: We Need To Leave Lionel Messi Alone About World Cup

The status of Lionel Messi for the 2026 World Cup remains a major question, but he is not receiving pressure for a decision from his manager. 

"We will see what happens, there's plenty of time," Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. "We must go one game a time otherwise [we] will be speaking about the same thing the rest of the year and we need to leave him alone, we will see. He will decide it whenever he wants, let's not drive him crazy with this."

Messi has been out several times this season with Inter Miami due to injury. 

"The best of our teams is always when the No. 10 is playing," Rodrigo De Paul said, "because he is the greatest of all time."