Lionel Messi may be in doubt as to whether he’ll be still playing for Argentina at the 2026 World Cup but he’s sure about one thing: he wants Lionel Scaloni to stay on as head coach until then, regardless.
The 35-year-old Messi led Argentina to the title in Qatar last December and wasn’t entirely sure if his fifth trip to the World Cup would be his last. The next edition will take place in Mexico, Canada and the United States when Messi is 39. Messi told newspaper Olé in an interview published Thursday that he’d regularly said his age would make it difficult to play another World Cup.
“I love playing soccer, I love what I do and while I am feeling well and feel I am fit and continue to enjoy it, I will do it. But it seems to be too much until the next World Cup,” he told the newspaper. “I have to see where my career goes, what I will do. It depends on many things.”
In the near future, he suggested he wants to play in next year’s Copa America in the U.S. to help Argentina defend its title. “I will stay a little longer, I have to enjoy this,” he said.
Scaloni is negotiating an extension of his contract with the Argentinian soccer federation and Messi thinks the coach should remain on the job.