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Lionel Scaloni, Argentina’s head coach, told reporters he genuinely does not know whether Sunday’s match will be Lionel Messi’s last appearance on the World Cup stage.
Scaloni’s candid uncertainty cuts through the noise. The man responsible for selecting Argentina’s squad simply doesn’t have clarity on whether the greatest player of his generation is done with the tournament that defined his legacy.
The weight of uncertainty
Scaloni captained Argentina’s coaching staff to a World Cup victory in 2022, with Messi lifting the trophy in Qatar. That win was widely regarded as the crowning achievement of Messi’s career, a moment that settled decades of debate about his place in soccer history.
The FIFA World Cup 2026, set to be hosted across the US, Canada, and Mexico, looms on the horizon. Messi would be 38 by then.
Scaloni’s refusal to speculate is notable precisely because coaches in his position usually have private conversations about these timelines. Either Messi himself hasn’t decided, or Scaloni is protecting the information.
Messi has repeatedly said he takes his international career one tournament at a time. There’s no grand announcement forthcoming, no farewell tour planned. Just a coach who says he doesn’t know, and a player whose every touch on Sunday could be his last in a World Cup jersey.
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