Lionel Messi raised the alarms on Sunday by exiting the Inter Miami game before the final whistle, in what was first seen as a potential injury with the 2026 World Cup just around the corner. While a major injury has been discarded, reports have appeared putting Messi’s presence for the first Argentina friendly against Honduras highly in doubt.
In the game between Inter Miami and the Philadelphia Union at Nu Stadium on Sunday, Messi was spotted clutching his left hamstring and asking to be subbed off around the 71st minute. Once the ball came out, the forward got replaced by Mateo Silvetti in the 73rd minute and headed straight down the tunnel to the locker room in scenes that looked far from optimistic.
Head coach Guillermo Hoyos then brought some calmness to the Argentina national team by stating that the substitution was due to fatigue, avoiding exposing Messi to a major setback. Argentine journalist and insider Gastón Edul then reported that he had a muscle overload and wasn’t dealing with a structural muscular injury.
Almost 24 hours after the event, ESPN Argentina has revealed some more details, stating that after undergoing medical examinations, Lionel Messi is dealing with a mild strain in the hamstring of his left leg. The recovery timeline suggested by the outlet addressed that the Argentine legend will require between 10 and 14 days of recovery.
Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami CF runs with the ball against Jovan Lukic #4 of Philadelphia Union.
This timeline has a direct conflict with not only the beginning of Argentina’s training camp on June 1st, but also the first friendly prior to the start of the World Cup. The game against Honduras at Kyle Field in Texas is scheduled for June 6th, meaning that Lionel Messi would have exactly 12 days to recover prior to the game against the CONCACAF side.
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This timeline puts Lionel Scaloni and Argentina’s coaching staff in need of making a decision over Messi and his fitness. Argentina will have another friendly against Iceland on June 9th, three days after the Honduras one, and its World Cup debut on the 16th against Algeria. With such limited time for Messi to reach his peak condition once again, the Argentine No. 10 seems likely to be rested, though it remains to be seen if it’ll be for one or both friendly games.
Memories of a similar scenario back in 2022
Compared to the 2022 edition in Qatar, the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, Canada, and the USA has returned to the basics, with the competition being played at the end of the season and not in the middle as it happened four years ago. Still, a similar scenario of physical bewilderment has been around the Argentina national team, including Lionel Messi.
Back on November 5th in 2022, Paris Saint-Germain released a statement revealing that Messi suffered an inflammation in his Achilles tendon just 15 days prior to the beginning of the World Cup in Qatar. The Argentine missed the game on the 6th against FC Lorient, but was able to return and perform 75 minutes on the 13th against Auxerre, and then went on and took part of every minute during the World Cup starting from the debut against Saudi Arabia on the 22nd.
