Will Lionel Messi play at the 2026 World Cup? | OneFootball

There was plenty of intrigue across Inter Miami’s Club World Cup campaign this summer, though admittedly most of it centred around the performances of Lionel Messi.

The 38-year-old, considered by many to be the best player ever to play the game, was featuring on the world stage again after a couple of years of playing for Miami in the MLS, far away from the spotlight that had enveloped him for much of his career.

And with this tournament taking place around a year before the 2026 World Cup, perhaps the biggest question was whether Messi still has the ability to affect games as he did for Argentina in 2022, and by extension whether it looks likely that he would be playing in the World Cup next year.

And despite a disappointing exit to former club PSG over the weekend, Messi still showed that he has plenty to offer, not least with a superb free-kick to lead his side to a 2-1 win over Porto in the group stages.

But with the World Cup under a year away, Messi has given no indication as to whether he wants to play – so what do the signs say, and might we have seen the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner on the world stage for the last time?

Messi will turn 39 not long after the start of next year’s World Cup, which naturally leads to some doubts over whether he will want to feature in the sixth World Cup of his career.

In addition, the Argentine’s contract with Inter Miami runs out at the end of 2025, though he is thought to be involved in talks to extend his stay in the US.

It is thought that Miami will be the last club of the Argentine’s illustrious career, so it is safe to assume that we won’t be seeing him on the Champions League or Copa Libertadores stages again.

Messi's 2022 World Cup win was seen by many as securing his legacy as the game's greatest ever player (Getty Images)

But might he be tempted to take part in a sixth World Cup?

Argentina’s World Cup win in 2022 was the last achievement that Messi had to tick off in his career, with many now believing he has earned the title of “best ever” after captaining his country to a third World Cup and winning the Golden Ball award for best player at the tournament.

With that in mind, Messi would probably be forgiven for thinking he has nothing left to prove, though a strong counter-argument remains – if fit, why wouldn’t he play?

Simply appearing in the World Cup remains the pinnacle of most players’ careers, while winning one is still the biggest achievement possible in the game.

The Copa America win last summer was the third major international trophy of Messi's career (Getty Images)

Nobody has ever won two World Cups as captain, while only 21 players – including Pele, Ronaldo and former Argentina defender Daniel Passarella – have won two World Cups at all. If he were to win a second, few could argue against him being the best of all time.

The mere possibility of winning football’s greatest prize again could well be enough to tempt Messi to feature in the USA next year, with potential for the game’s greatest swan song if the then-39 year old was able to play a central role in a winning campaign.

And perhaps fans can take some encouragement from Messi’s recent appearances for his country, with the 38-year-old having featured in 11 of the 15 games in qualifying, helping Argentina to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as early as March of this year.

International teammate Nicolas Otamendi recently said that he expects Messi to feature at the World Cup, though Spanish journalist Guillem Balague – who wrote a book on Messi in 2023 – said that the Argentina talisman “has not indicated to anyone what his final decision is."

Messi played for Argentina as recently as June, in their World Cup qualifier against Colombia (Getty Images)

"If he renews and stays in America, he'll evaluate the situation when he needs to, but for the time being he is just taking things step by step,” said Balague in a column for the BBC.

Though nobody knows for sure, Messi’s performances at the Club World Cup show that he at least remains mobile and capable enough to affect games at the highest level, especially if afforded the level of teammate that he is while on international duty.

So, if selected for the squad by Lionel Scaloni, surely Messi would accept the call up? Argentina fans will certainly be praying he does, and you suspect many neutrals will be too.