Argentina fans have had mixed reactions to superstar Lionel Messi’s absence from the national team call-up to prepare for the 2026 World Cup qualifying matches.

Yesterday (August 19, Vietnam time), coach Lionel Scaloni officially called up 28 players to prepare for the matches in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America.

As usual, Scaloni still relies on the regular stars in this call-up, but the player with the most expectations, Lionel Messi, is not on this list . The Inter Miami star is still recovering from the injury he suffered in the 2024 Copa America final, and has not been able to return to play since then.

Witnessing Messi’s unfortunate absence, La Albiceleste fans had different reactions.

One said: “Missing the most important ingredient.”

The second said: “Messi is not in the Argentina national team. I’m not ready for this. Someone take me back to 2022.”

The third person sadly said: “This is heartbreaking.”

Besides some comments regretting Messi’s absence, some others think that El Pulga should consider retiring because he is becoming more and more prone to injuries.

One said: “It’s time to stop, man.”

Another added: “He should retire. He’s missed more games this year than he’s played. He comes back from injury, plays a few games, then gets injured again and misses a few weeks.”

The last person said: “Messi’s body has gone downhill, he should retire.”

In the 2024 Copa America final against Colombia, Messi suffered a brutal foul from Santiago Arias of the opposing team, and suffered a serious ankle injury. The 37-year-old left the field in tears, but in the end his teammates completed the task with Lautaro Martinez’s “golden goal” to defend the Copa America title.

In this international competition, Argentina will face Chile and Colombia respectively, and these are considered the two toughest opponents that Lionel Scaloni’s team will have to face this year.