Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi will play in his sixth World Cup, captaining Argentina in 2026.
The forward, who will be 39 during the tournament, was chosen in Lionel Scaloni’s 26-man team on Thursday after leading his country to a third World Cup success in Qatar four years ago with a penalty shootout victory over France.
Messi now holds the record for the most World Cup appearances by any player, with 26.
He will be joined by Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, as the only male players to compete in the sixth edition of football’s biggest event this summer.
The 2022 tournament’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez, and Tottenham’s Cristian Romero, who missed the end of the Premier League season with a knee injury, have been selected.
Five British-based players, including Liverpool’s Alexis MacAllister and Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez, will compete in the finals in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
Argentina are in Group J and begin their campaign in Kansas City against Algeria (Wednesday, 17 June, 02:00 BST) before they play two games in Dallas, against Austria (Monday, 22 June, 18:00 BST) and Jordan (Sunday, 28 June, 02:00 BST).
Messi was substituted during Inter Miami’s most recent Major League Soccer encounter on Monday, but his club maintained he had not been injured and was suffering from “muscle fatigue” in his left hamstring.
He has 198 appearances for Argentina and will reach 200 if he plays in both of his country’s friendly matches, against Honduras in Texas (Sunday, 7 June, 01:00 BST) and Iceland in Alabama (Tuesday, 9 June).
Notable absentees include in-form Aston Villa forward Emi Buendia, whose Europa League final stunner was awarded goal of the tournament, forward Paolo Dybala, whose season at Roma has been hampered by injury, and Real Madrid winger Franco Mastantuono, aged 18.
Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni, who has one cap, will also miss the opening two games of the tournament after FIFA announced he would be suspended for abusing Vinicius Jr.
Argentina World Cup squad includes:
Goalkeepers: Juan Musso (Atletico Madrid), Geronimo Rulli (Marseille), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa).
Defenders: Leonardo Balerdi (Marseille), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Facundo Medina (Marseille), and Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid).
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes (River Plate), Rodrigo de Paul (Inter Miami), Valentin Barco (Strasbourg), Giovani lo Celso (Real Betis), Ezequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), and Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea).
Forwards: Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Nicolas Gonzalez (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Almada (Atletico Madrid), Giuliano Simeone (Atletico Madrid), Nico Paz (Como), Jose Manuel Lopez (Palmeiras), and Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan).
