Messi was not called up to the Argentina national team

In this September training session according to the FIFA Days schedule, the Argentina national team will have two matches with Chile and Colombia in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. On August 19, coach Scaloni announced the Argentina national team’s squad list to prepare for the two matches.

Notably, Argentina’s number 1 star, Leo Messi, was not included in this gathering. The Inter Miami player suffered an ankle injury in the Copa America final last July and has not been able to return to play.

Thus, Messi will be absent from the Argentina national team’s squad for the first time since 2019. At that year’s Copa America, Messi caused a shock when he said the tournament was “fixed” for Brazil to win. Messi’s statement resulted in a 3-month suspension and he will not be back until November.

That year’s penalty only kept Messi absent from Argentina’s friendly matches. El Pulga was still present in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Immediately after the above penalty, Leo returned and had a period of great success with Albiceleste.

Except for the absence of two veteran faces, Messi (injured) and Angel Di Maria (retired from the team), the remaining positions of this team are not much different from the list of calls in recent tournaments of Albiceleste. There are 4 faces called up to the Argentina team for the first time, namely Ezequiel Fernandez, Giuliano Simeone, Matias Soule and Taty Castellanos.

As for Messi, this player has not played any match since the 2024 Copa America final. Leo is still in the process of recovering from injury and this striker can only return in the second half of September at the earliest.