Lionel Messi is enjoying a superb start to life at Inter Miami with the Argentina international scoring a hatful of goals and winning an army of fans in MLS.
Messi decision to join Tata Martino’s side following his departure from Paris Saint-Germain triggered a Camp Nou reunion in Florida, with former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba also arriving at the club.
The 36-year-old has indicated that he’s willing to continue his international career after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina.
Glory in Qatar appeared to be the perfect final chapter for Messi and Argentina but he is yet to fully close the door on playing at the 2026 tournament. The Sporting News has the latest on Messi’s international future.
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Will Lionel Messi play at the 2026 World Cup?
A move to the USA has generated more focus on Messi competing in 2026 with his new home co-hosting the competition alongside Canada and Mexico.
Following the 2022 final win over France, Messi appeared to claim he was edging towards international retirement, with a farewell planned in 2023.
He said: “I’ll see how things go, but as it is right now, no, I won’t go to the next World Cup.”
However, the situation continues to evolve, and as part of an interview with Argentinian comedian Migue Granados Messi said he’ll continue to check on his ability to keep performing at the highest level.
“It still seems a long way away,” he said. “Yes, my goal is to play in the Copa America (in 2024), which is also here in the United States. After that, we’ll see.
“It principally depends on how I’m feeling. We’ll have to see about the league here, the level of competition. I don’t know.”
Messi played and scored in three of Argentina’s four friendlies at the start of 2023 with wins against Panama, Curacao and Australia.
He followed that up with a superb free kick winner in their opening 2026 World Cup qualifier against Ecuador before missing out on the 3-0 win in Bolivia due to injury.
Lionel Messi’s World Cup record
Messi has scored 13 goals in 26 matches at the FIFA World Cup, across five editions (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022) as the highest goal-scorer for Argentina in the tournament’s history.
He won the Golden Ball Award in 2014 and 2022 but was edged out in the 2022 Golden Boot race by former PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe.
The 2022 triumph was Messi’s first World Cup title after losing out in the quarterfinals in his first two appearances, in 2006 and 2010.
Messi and Argentina lost out to Germany in the 2014 final and were knocked out by Mbappe’s France in the Round of 16 in 2018.
How to watch Lionel Messi at Inter Miami
The 2023 MLS season saw a change in domestic and international broadcasting rights as part of a 10-year global rights agreement with Apple to stream every match of the season exclusively on Apple TV via the MLS Season Pass — available anywhere in the world.
The focus of the deal centres on complete MLS coverage, with fans able to keep an eye on Messi in Miami, and every minute of MLS action throughout the campaign.
The MLS Season Pass is available to fans across the world with FOX Sports and TSN/RDS also broadcasting selected games in the USA and Canada respectively.
