Lionel Messi will captain Argentina at the Fifa World Cup 2026 after being named on Thursday in Lionel Scaloni's 26-man squad, a call that sends him to a sixth tournament and keeps alive the most watched individual storyline in the team's title defence.
The selection matters now because Messi has 198 appearances for Argentina and could reach 200 before the tournament even starts if he plays in both friendlies against Honduras and Iceland. Argentina will face Honduras in Texas on Sunday, 7 June, and Iceland in Alabama on Tuesday, 9 June, before opening their Group J campaign against Algeria in Kansas City on Wednesday, 17 June, at 02:00 BST. They will then meet Austria in Dallas on Monday, 22 June, at 18:00 BST and Jordan in Dallas on Sunday, 28 June, at 02:00 BST.
Messi already owns the record for the most World Cup appearances by any player, with 26 matches, and he is the only male player other than Cristiano Ronaldo set to appear in a sixth World Cup. He turned 39 during the tournament and remains central to the side that won in Qatar in 2022, when Argentina beat France on penalties to claim the title.
Scaloni kept 17 players from that winning squad, a sign that Argentina are leaning on the same core that carried them through Qatar rather than starting over after the captain's long run in international football. Messi's place had been touched by a small concern this week after he was substituted in Inter Miami's latest Major League Soccer match on Monday, but the club said he had not suffered an injury and was dealing with muscle fatigue in his left hamstring.
That leaves the real question not over his place in the squad, but over how much of the buildup he can handle. If Messi gets through the two friendlies, he will become only the fourth Argentine to reach 200 caps, and Argentina will head into the tournament with their captain, their record holder and the player who still defines the way the team is judged. AMC Theater teams with Telemundo to show Fifa World Cup 2026 live and James Corden to host FOX Sports' Fifa World Cup 2026 after-hours show have also added to the buildup around the tournament.
