World Cup 2026: Will we see Lionel Messi for the last time?

If Messi decides to stay with Argentina until 2030, he will become the oldest foreign player to appear at the World Cup at the age of 43 – unless, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo opts to move to Portugal.

Not only will Messi add a new record to his long list, but he will also have the chance to play in one of Argentina’s centenary games at the start of the next World Cup.

Spanish football expert Guillaume Balague doesn’t think this will be the last fans see of Messi at the World Cup.

“I doubt you’ll hear it’s the end, but we’ll see. I’ll see him with the national side just because he likes it,” he said.

“Being in MLS at Inter Miami, I don’t see him still working and saying that’s it and he’s going to play the rest of his career with Inter Miami.”

Messi’s 2026 World Cup was less interesting. He scored eight goals in seven games – two behind the tournament’s top goalscorer Mbappe – as Argentina progressed to the final with a series of fine performances.

Argentina boss Scaloni hailed Messi as history and a legend: “He’s history, I’m proud, he’s the best footballer the world has ever seen and it’s unbelievable that he’s reached the final at the age of 39 – that’s why I say we have to celebrate him.”

With Diego Maradona we still miss him but Messi is still with us so we should be happy.

“I don’t know if this is Leo’s last game. You’ll have to ask him. We haven’t discussed it.”

His performances in North America continue to be a resurgence for Messi of late at World Cups. 15 of his 21 competitive goals have come since his 35th birthday.

In the year By winning the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, Messi has shown his motivation to continue in 2026. The question is whether he will continue until 2030.

“I feel like he hasn’t said the last word yet,” Balague said. “He finishes 39 games of 120 minutes.

He covered 6.5km in the first 90 minutes against Cape Verde, 62% of which was walking.

“You can walk a little more, the feeling is still there. All this means that he will not leave the national side.”

There is a reason why Messi played in front of the home field in the World Cup.

The 2030 World Cup will have six host countries. The majority of matches will be played in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with at least one match each in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. A world stage game in front of the Argentinian crowd may prove too difficult for Messi to oppose.

Messi in the year He hinted that the 2022 finals would be his international swansong.

“I’m very happy to finish my journey to the finals, to reach the finals. That’s really exciting,” he said ahead of the 2022 showpiece.

“There’s a lot of years between this year and next year. I don’t think I can do that. It’s great to finish this way.”

That is clearly not the case. So what can be said after the end of 2026, keep an eye on 2030.