Messi: "Because of my age, it's very difficult for me to reach the 2026 World Cup"

   MADRID, 3 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The world champion with Argentina Lionel Messi confessed that he finds it "very difficult" to play the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in Canada, the United States and Mexico, due to his age, since he will arrive at the tournament at the age of 39, at the same time that he wanted the continuity of Lionel Scaloni as coach of the 'Albiceleste'.

"I don't know, I've always said that because of my age, I think it's very difficult for me to get there," said the '10' in an interview with Olé published this morning. The Argentine admitted that he "loves to play football" and will continue to do so "as long as he is well" and feels "physically well and continues to enjoy it." "But I think the next World Cup is a long way off," he acknowledged.

However, Messi expressed that his presence in the next World Cup depends on "how his career goes" in 2026. "I am going to turn 36, I am going to see where my career is going, what I am going to do and it depends on many things ", he added.

In the interview with the Argentine newspaper, the PSG player revealed that he wants Scaloni to continue in charge of the team's bench. "I hope he renews and continues, because I think that apart from everything he has been showing, he is a very important person for the national team and for this whole group that has been growing with him," he applauded.

"Beyond the fact that they won the Copa América, the Final and the World Cup, they are young people and I think that continuing with this same process and not having to change would be spectacular. But it is their decision and whatever it is is understandable because they also won everything as a coach and this is football", he added about the future decision.

In addition, he regretted that if they do badly in the next Copa América "they will hit the coach and the players again." "He can also look for other challenges. The truth is that after the World Cup we don't talk anymore, yes during the World Cup and before long. Whatever he decides will be fine for everyone, but hopefully he decides to continue because it will be the best for Argentina" , gave his opinion on the future of the coach.

Messi, 35, crowned his brilliant career by lifting the World Cup. "For me, that is practically the end of my career, and I don't think there is a better ending than that," he confessed to Olé, a moment that he does not know how to express with words. "I didn't plan to kiss the cup, it was to see it and go because it was so 'close', it came from inside me. And it was a huge emotion to be able to say that's it, we can grab, touch," he confessed.

"After so much time in the national team, from previous World Cups, having been so close also in 2014. Behind there was a lot of sacrifice, a lot of defeat, a lot of hard times, which I had to go through. It was a beautiful situation," he concluded.