FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread

[Leviathan.007]

~snip~
In the fight against dishonest refereeing, VAR also helps very well, simply by its existence - it is difficult to make the wrong decision when you are then subject to criticism and there will be no excuse “I didn’t notice.”
In general, people get used to good things very quickly - I remember how just ten (even less) years ago goals from a two-meter offside position were the norm, a ball that hit the goal from the crossbar (and crossed the line = goal) and then flew out of there was not counted, it was also a common occurrence (even at the World Cup). Now people are discussing small, rare mistakes (and I don’t dispute that they exist), but they forget that the situation has become much better.

I think it should be as it was before, basically that's the job of the referee team, to check out what's going on, and interpret the game the best they can.

If we simply add sensors everywhere, then might as well switch the players for robots...

The RoboCup is an alternative World Cup that does exactly that, and let me tell you, it's fun for like 5 minutes. Then it gets so boring.

And by the way, in 2050 the World Cup champion country will play against the RoboCup champion. We'll see how that goes.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/robocup-robot-soccer

Technology is developing and obviously, we will have more tools over time to use in the next World Cups but I think that it's not right to use technologies like this because this is changing the real shape of football. However human mistakes can be effective and even change the result but by the referee but it's always a part of the game. I think the next World Cups will be even more annoying because of that and it lose the real shape of the World Cups we saw before.

[1714914114]

1714914114

[1714914114]

1714914114

[1714914114]

1714914114

[Rampagoe004]

Technology is developing and obviously, we will have more tools over time to use in the next World Cups but I think that it's not right to use technologies like this because this is changing the real shape of football. However human mistakes can be effective and even change the result but by the referee but it's always a part of the game. I think the next World Cups will be even more annoying because of that and it lose the real shape of the World Cups we saw before.

Placing sensors everywhere will only make players play like robots. Trust me. I don't completely disagree with VAR. It helps a lot in difficult situations and during this time the various controversies are still acceptable. But what about putting lots of sensors in place to monitor violations? I mean if there are lots of sensors then in the future players will play more safely and there will be no more defenders like Ramos or Pepe. In fact, players will tend not to make physical contact for fear of being considered a violation. So what we see is just passing each other and marking opponents without any interceptions and tackles like in the past.

[alegotardo]

Technology is developing and obviously, we will have more tools over time to use in the next World Cups but I think that it's not right to use technologies like this because this is changing the real shape of football. However human mistakes can be effective and even change the result but by the referee but it's always a part of the game. I think the next World Cups will be even more annoying because of that and it lose the real shape of the World Cups we saw before.

I find the way technology is used in volleyball matches very interesting!
In this sport, technology is used as an auxiliary mechanism that the coaches of each team can use, not as a decision tool that can change the fate of the game at all times.
In this sport, the initial decision is always made by the referee, and if a coach believes that there has been a discrepancy, he can request the help of technology, but if he made a mistake and the technology shows that the judge's decision is correct, then the team is penalized.

Something similar should also happen in football.... human decision-making should prevail, and only activate the technology when the national team coach is convinced that something was wrong, this way it would be used more prudently.
But the way it is being used today, everyone simply folds their arms for several minutes and waits for the technology to decide how the game will continue. This is wrong and very annoying!

[LUCKMCFLY]

This is right and frankly, it would be awesome to have all these players be able to play for a few seasons during a different generation. Of course I think that a player like Maradona would have been a crazy player in the 2010 Barcelona team with Iniesta, Messi and all the other guys. At the same time I think that a gifted player like Messi would have had great times decades ago as well. I think it is no coincidence that the goal Messi scored against Getafe was so similar to the solo goal that Maradona once scored.

As for the football rules not being as strict, maybe you should watch a video that is called the hardest tackles on Messi. I don't think it can get much harder than that.

Well, as far as I'm Concerned , things with Maradona I never liked his style , the fact that a person takes drugs to do great things in life, for me they have no type of merit, yes, he was great, he did things incredible but what example remains for History ? than a player who achieved everything based on drugs? The most fans said that the dog hurt him, a Soccer player for me must be very complete and in every sense, because he is an example to follow , how can a Child Consider this being Serious? as? As for Messi, things are different, the player is very good , he has a Special gift , but that Doesn't mean that I think he is the best in the world, I also think that Messi had a lot of help from the games, from FIFA , from the Awards , How can they choose him to be the best in the world over Haaland? It's something that doesn't make sense, I hope for the next World Cup if he goes , then don't give him much help, because I don't think he needs it.

I'm not talking about how Messi Helped him Win a World Cup , but it's obvious that They gave him great help when they chose him to be the best in the world , and the first ones they give him, and he's in a league that doesn't have any level for me , no , It is but below the Mexican League and that already means a lot , so many believe that Because it is there then they Should give it the Prize for the Ballon d'Or and Everything they have given it , for me things are not right Jan fl But now, they are doing things very Inefficiently and that is Something that really bothers me because I Know that there are players who strive to have a status of being the best , and for that reason it is because we cannot thinking that things can be like this just as they Show them in FIFA , I am very sure that just like me there are a large number of people who think the same as me , and that is the Worst Thing , that sometimes things are seen with a lot of Shamelessness and Annoying.

Aha, I actually didn't know that Maradona was on drugs all the time? I heard about his cocaine scandals when he was older and not an active player anymore, but is there any serious evidence that he was doping or taking any substances that were performance enhancing but not allowed in football?

I agree with the things you said about Messi and the ballon d'or and so on and that Haaland would have deserved it more. But I think Haaland will always have a hard time to win the ballon d'or in years when the World Cup counts because it is highly unlikely that he will ever get close to winning a World Norway. You could almost call it bad fate when a superstar player is born in a country that will never have a chance to win big tournaments because they will often be at a disadvantage when it comes to these awards.

Well, what you know is that Maradona in his time did it and as they have Said in the Studies that were Done , the drug made him not perform as much Physically , that is what you say, I don't Really know if they said that right now, His image looked so bad, the truth is I don't know if that's true , on ESPN many Years ago I saw a program about that , however things are because I have a very different opinion from that of others, I am a person who when He sees drugs in something because I don't like it, it's something that doesn't bother me, however, things now in history have remained like this, many give their acceptance, but as far as I'm Concerned , it's not my Example to follow very much unless children take it like that, the drug eventually destroys and it is not a very good example and I have that point of view, now things are very emphatic when they are trying to be done well , for me things are when they are about Players who are always in the presence of opposition lose all possible credibility.

When I look for a way to do something in football I like to analyze the players well, for me Messi is one of the greatest players there is but things fail him and he doesn't need me to give him anything, because with his talent he is capable To achieve this , in the MLS the referees always favored him , and in reality it was somewhat shameless, the players would always look for a way to confuse the referee in their favor , but in this case with Messi they go too far, I don't know if it's because In the MLS, so much admiration they have for Messwi makes it so with him , but that looks Bad , in an Inter Miami match I couldn't be able to see him in full , because it seemed like the referee was playing in favor of the player. Inter and that demotivated me a lot , he was very Shameless , so that's just why football doesn't suit me , that's why I have a different perspective.

[Volgastallion]

I dont know how MEssi is gonna arrive to the next World CUp, right now he is in good level but i see him being so much tired than before, and with two years more ahead, is gonna be dificult to see him playing at high level, clearly he can still play in one leg or stary in one position and keep being a key player but can be more complicated than that.

[dezoel]

Technology is developing and obviously, we will have more tools over time to use in the next World Cups but I think that it's not right to use technologies like this because this is changing the real shape of football. However human mistakes can be effective and even change the result but by the referee but it's always a part of the game. I think the next World Cups will be even more annoying because of that and it lose the real shape of the World Cups we saw before.

In last two decades, we have too much development in sports with latest technology bringing many positive things but sadly still we have too many controversies as well which are creating problems for the officials and fans because many times we have wrong use or still wrong decisions after using this technology which is still concern for the authorities in many sports same happening in soccer but if we go with positive side then surely we have to understand things will be taken more changes, and we will have all things in robot hands which are making sense right now.

As now, we are heading for the next world cup which is going to hold in three countries with 48 teams surely going to have more changes with many things will be developed and few changes surely going to hurt this game as well because no one know how they will use this all and have side effects of these things as well which will became after this big event.

[KTChampions]

~snip~
In the fight against dishonest refereeing, VAR also helps very well, simply by its existence - it is difficult to make the wrong decision when you are then subject to criticism and there will be no excuse “I didn’t notice.”
In general, people get used to good things very quickly - I remember how just ten (even less) years ago goals from a two-meter offside position were the norm, a ball that hit the goal from the crossbar (and crossed the line = goal) and then flew out of there was not counted, it was also a common occurrence (even at the World Cup). Now people are discussing small, rare mistakes (and I don’t dispute that they exist), but they forget that the situation has become much better.

I think it should be as it was before, basically that's the job of the referee team, to check out what's going on, and interpret the game the best they can.

If we simply add sensors everywhere, then might as well switch the players for robots...

The RoboCup is an alternative World Cup that does exactly that, and let me tell you, it's fun for like 5 minutes. Then it gets so boring.

And by the way, in 2050 the World Cup champion country will play against the RoboCup champion. We'll see how that goes.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/robocup-robot-soccer

To be honest, I don’t understand this logical chain. Technical means only help referees make the right decisions and not count a goal from a two-meter offside, or be deceived by the player’s simulation. Why we should switch to robots is unclear to me.
I remember what severe cognitive dissonance I experienced when there was no VAR yet, but in tennis a system was already in full use that determined the position of the ball down to the millimeter. I switched between these two sports and literally could not understand why there was such a difference, and by the way, I have never heard tennis players complain about technical means that allow them to get a fair result and not rely on the accuracy of the referee’s vision.

[rdluffy]

I do understand and respect the opinion of you guys against VAR or technology, but I disagree
Teams and national teams these days are all professional, there's too much work and money involved to throw it all away because of human error
Imagine you're the owner of a team, or you're a player, coach, etc. Just imagine you get to a final, for example, and because of human error, you lose that game. Wouldn't that be VERY unfair?
I think it's very valid to use all resources to minimize mistakes

I'll just cite a very grotesque example, in 2002 the United States team played against Germany, it was 1x0 to Germany, look what happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg3psAYfOv8
I remember well because I was rooting to US and they were playing very well, maybe their best team so far, and they are totally
And they were totally prejudiced by an error that VAR could easily have solved today

The outcome of that match could have been totally different, including the final. Who knows, maybe the US could have gone further?
There are tons of examples, and we can think of something closer to us, imagine making a big bet and losing it because of a mistake by the referee?
That's pretty unfair

[Leviathan.007]

Technology is developing and obviously, we will have more tools over time to use in the next World Cups but I think that it's not right to use technologies like this because this is changing the real shape of football. However human mistakes can be effective and even change the result but by the referee but it's always a part of the game. I think the next World Cups will be even more annoying because of that and it lose the real shape of the World Cups we saw before.

I find the way technology is used in volleyball matches very interesting!
In this sport, technology is used as an auxiliary mechanism that the coaches of each team can use, not as a decision tool that can change the fate of the game at all times.
In this sport, the initial decision is always made by the referee, and if a coach believes that there has been a discrepancy, he can request the help of technology, but if he made a mistake and the technology shows that the judge's decision is correct, then the team is penalized.

Something similar should also happen in football.... human decision-making should prevail, and only activate the technology when the national team coach is convinced that something was wrong, this way it would be used more prudently.
But the way it is being used today, everyone simply folds their arms for several minutes and waits for the technology to decide how the game will continue. This is wrong and very annoying!

Football is not the same as volleyball especially when we are talking about the important tournaments like the World Cup. I prefer to see another player like Maradona score goals with his hand however the goal is not right and it's not fair but at least there are not any robots involving this game. Using technology like VAR is not good for these tournaments and I think that's why the world cups we see are not interesting like the world cups we saw in the past years when there was even a human mistake in the game.

[Sithara007]

I dont know how MEssi is gonna arrive to the next World CUp, right now he is in good level but i see him being so much tired than before, and with two years more ahead, is gonna be dificult to see him playing at high level, clearly he can still play in one leg or stary in one position and keep being a key player but can be more complicated than that.

Messi is not Ronaldo. At this point, Ronaldo is playing high quality football for Al Nassr. On the other hand, Messi has moved to Major League Soccer, which is not considered as one of the top-tier football leagues in the world. And from what I have seen recently, ageing is very evident in his performance. He maybe two years younger than Ronaldo, but I have a feeling that he is no longer in his prime. Anyway, we have these two players in action today, as Al Nassr is taking on Inter Miami at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. This match will give us an opportunity to compare the performance of both of them.

[FanEagle]

The technology is developing more and more these days. For example they have introduced us a new system called "semi-automated offside technology". This system is helping the current VAR system significantly in debatable offside situations. Like this one no wonder we will see better technologies developed in the future to decrease the number of human error to minimum.

I agree that it is very annoying to see referees making simple mistakes. Even in VAR's presence we are seeing unbelievable human errors even in the most prestigious leagues in Europe such as the English Premier League.    But we will get closer to full automation in time to maybe even make the error count 0 in matches.

For the life of me, I just can't understand when that starts and doesn't start. I see some questionable offside situations and sometimes they do show it, which is great, it removes all the questions on the minds, but usually five minutes after the situation, like what if that was the wrong call?

Maybe it is not like that in every nation but in UCL that was like that, I watched maybe 20 games this year, and I mean full 90 minutes ones, and in all of them, the semi automated came in like at least 5 minutes later, which means if the ref was wrong, then it would have been too late. And not only that, but it doesn't even come into play each time, sometimes they just don't show it at all, which makes absolutely no sense to me at all.

[nullama]

~snip~
To be honest, I don’t understand this logical chain. Technical means only help referees make the right decisions and not count a goal from a two-meter offside, or be deceived by the player’s simulation. Why we should switch to robots is unclear to me.
I remember what severe cognitive dissonance I experienced when there was no VAR yet, but in tennis a system was already in full use that determined the position of the ball down to the millimeter. I switched between these two sports and literally could not understand why there was such a difference, and by the way, I have never heard tennis players complain about technical means that allow them to get a fair result and not rely on the accuracy of the referee’s vision.

Things like this change the nature of the game as it changes the tempo and other things.

In tennis like you mention for example, the players have a limited amount of challenges. So, you could even have a situation in which the player experiences many tricky situations and runs out of challenges. That's another issue.

The thing is that in a game you have a lot of mental stuff, so when you stop the whole game all the time you change the rhythm of it. It's not the same sport.

What I meant with the robots is that robots simply follow the rules, unlike humans who disregard the rules all the time. It's much more interesting to watch humans than having everything so "correct". In the end what matters is the entertainment, not being right.

[Slow death]

I dont know how MEssi is gonna arrive to the next World CUp, right now he is in good level but i see him being so much tired than before, and with two years more ahead, is gonna be dificult to see him playing at high level, clearly he can still play in one leg or stary in one position and keep being a key player but can be more complicated than that.

It is often said that no one is born with talent, but talent comes from a lot of practice. So Messi is a good player because he's been playing since he was very young, but he's playing in a much lower league like the US league and to make matters worse he's playing for one of the worst teams in the US league, so I don't see that being something he'll do with May Messi's talent be the same. and see that even if messi were 25 years old, and he played in that US team and league, he wouldn't have much talent, he wouldn't be a good football player. Now let's add Messi's age, I see that Messi should retire from football, because I don't see any reason why he is still being called up for the Argentine national team when he is currently on the worst team in the USA and he has already achieved everything there is. high in football.

You have to leave room for other players to shine. Honestly, calling Messi for the next World Cup is something very exaggerated in my opinion. It would seem that in Argentina there are no good players capable of winning without Messi, which is not true. Looking at Argentina's squad in comparison to the squad of many other national teams, it is clear that Argentina has a good squad capable of competing with other teams without needing Messi. If a national team doesn't make room for other players, then how can younger players dream of one day playing for the national team?

I believe that the Argentine coach should start thinking about making room for other good players. Even when Dybala is called up to the Argentine national team, he never plays for at least 5 minutes. I don't understand why Argentina's coach doesn't let him play. So it's very strange that they call Messi who plays for a much inferior US team and play 90 minutes, but leave Dybala on the bench who plays for a good Italian team. I know Messi is a prodigy, but they could at least allow the other players to play in friendlies and in serious games they could at least play 10 minutes

[Leviathan.007]

I dont know how MEssi is gonna arrive to the next World CUp, right now he is in good level but i see him being so much tired than before, and with two years more ahead, is gonna be dificult to see him playing at high level, clearly he can still play in one leg or stary in one position and keep being a key player but can be more complicated than that.

Messi is not Ronaldo. At this point, Ronaldo is playing high quality football for Al Nassr. On the other hand, Messi has moved to Major League Soccer, which is not considered as one of the top-tier football leagues in the world. And from what I have seen recently, ageing is very evident in his performance. He maybe two years younger than Ronaldo, but I have a feeling that he is no longer in his prime. Anyway, we have these two players in action today, as Al Nassr is taking on Inter Miami at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. This match will give us an opportunity to compare the performance of both of them.

Soon we are going to see a match between the two teams Inter Miami and Al Nassr and I think in this match we are going to see Messi playing against Ronaldo once again if Ronaldo gets in good form. But talking about these two plays for the next World Cup in 2026 doesn't make any sense and I think it's time for both Portugal and Argantinato to find younger players and stop thinking about these two players because can't be sure even if they won't get retired and will still play until 2026.

[Jody.Drummer]

I dont know how MEssi is gonna arrive to the next World CUp, right now he is in good level but i see him being so much tired than before, and with two years more ahead, is gonna be dificult to see him playing at high level, clearly he can still play in one leg or stary in one position and keep being a key player but can be more complicated than that.

Previously we speculated about the possibility that Messi would play his last World Cup, and now we start talking about whether he will be in the squad that Argentia will take to the next World Cup or not. It's obviously difficult to say he will be there, but it's not impossible that it will happen. So far there are no signs whether he will retire in the near future or not, but 2 years is quite a long time and he could suddenly decide to retire.
It's the same with Ronaldo, he is still active now and in terms of goal productivity he is still good, so we are also starting to talk about whether he will return to the World Cup or not, because in terms of his game he is still quite good even though he is no longer in Europe.

[beerlover]

I think it should be as it was before, basically that's the job of the referee team, to check out what's going on, and interpret the game the best they can.

If we simply add sensors everywhere, then might as well switch the players for robots...

The RoboCup is an alternative World Cup that does exactly that, and let me tell you, it's fun for like 5 minutes. Then it gets so boring.

And by the way, in 2050 the World Cup champion country will play against the RoboCup champion. We'll see how that goes.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/robocup-robot-soccer

Technology is developing and obviously, we will have more tools over time to use in the next World Cups but I think that it's not right to use technologies like this because this is changing the real shape of football. However human mistakes can be effective and even change the result but by the referee but it's always a part of the game. I think the next World Cups will be even more annoying because of that and it lose the real shape of the World Cups we saw before.

I believe that we are going to end up with much better tech in a few years, I can't really consider that as the biggest problem and that should be considered as normal and that would not be considered all that easy to keep improving so they just look for other stuff to put on top of it. I get that it is not going to be easy, but it is just the way it goes. I understand how life can be a little harder than usual, but that will be just the way it could go.

I have to say it is not going to be all that complicated to figure out what to do, just a tech referee without any human stuff, that could be quite good. I know it is not anytime soon, but AI referee should be the next logical step if we could get there eventually.

[indah rezqi]

I dont know how MEssi is gonna arrive to the next World CUp, right now he is in good level but i see him being so much tired than before, and with two years more ahead, is gonna be dificult to see him playing at high level, clearly he can still play in one leg or stary in one position and keep being a key player but can be more complicated than that.

Previously we speculated about the possibility that Messi would play his last World Cup, and now we start talking about whether he will be in the squad that Argentia will take to the next World Cup or not. It's obviously difficult to say he will be there, but it's not impossible that it will happen. So far there are no signs whether he will retire in the near future or not, but 2 years is quite a long time and he could suddenly decide to retire.
It's the same with Ronaldo, he is still active now and in terms of goal productivity he is still good, so we are also starting to talk about whether he will return to the World Cup or not, because in terms of his game he is still quite good even though he is no longer in Europe.

It is hoped that these two mega stars can enliven the upcoming 2026 edition of the World Cup. The age factor is one of the biggest challenges, because it is no longer easy for both of them to compete at the highest level of football, especially Ronaldo, who is slightly older than Messi. It is true that in the next two years many things can happen, because we cannot predict the future with certainty, and it is possible that both of them will fulfill the call to strengthen their respective national teams. Ronaldo and Messi have extraordinary appeal, because both have quite large fan bases, we can see followers on the two superstars social media.

If you look at age, both Ronaldo and Messi seem to choose to give opportunities to younger players, to maintain regeneration in the team. Because we can imagine if both of them were called up to take part in the 2026 World Cup, but the coaches of the two teams put them on the bench, the fans would of course criticize the managers out loud. When the coach gave the two more playing time, they were no longer up to it. In conclusion, managers will go awry in taking action, I think that is very reasonable.

[Sunderland]

I dont know how MEssi is gonna arrive to the next World CUp, right now he is in good level but i see him being so much tired than before, and with two years more ahead, is gonna be dificult to see him playing at high level, clearly he can still play in one leg or stary in one position and keep being a key player but can be more complicated than that.

Messi is not Ronaldo. At this point, Ronaldo is playing high quality football for Al Nassr. On the other hand, Messi has moved to Major League Soccer, which is not considered as one of the top-tier football leagues in the world. And from what I have seen recently, ageing is very evident in his performance. He maybe two years younger than Ronaldo, but I have a feeling that he is no longer in his prime. Anyway, we have these two players in action today, as Al Nassr is taking on Inter Miami at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. This match will give us an opportunity to compare the performance of both of them.

Ronaldo is not playing in this match because of injured and Messi is not a starter either.
HT now and the result is 3-0 for Al Nassar.

I dont think that we will see Ronaldo in the 2026 World Cup but Messi definitely will play because of this:

- snip -
Messi will be 38 years old in 2026, and that is still "young" compare with other old players who ever play in the World Cup.
Messi will be playing in the World Cup 2026,  he is the player with the most games played at the World Cup (26 matches) and maybe he has a target to make it more than 30 matches.
Also he will break another record as the first player ever who plays in 6 different World Cup.

[KTChampions]

I do understand and respect the opinion of you guys against VAR or technology, but I disagree
Teams and national teams these days are all professional, there's too much work and money involved to throw it all away because of human error
Imagine you're the owner of a team, or you're a player, coach, etc. Just imagine you get to a final, for example, and because of human error, you lose that game. Wouldn't that be VERY unfair?
I think it's very valid to use all resources to minimize mistakes

I'll just cite a very grotesque example, in 2002 the United States team played against Germany, it was 1x0 to Germany, look what happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg3psAYfOv8
I remember well because I was rooting to US and they were playing very well, maybe their best team so far, and they are totally
And they were totally prejudiced by an error that VAR could easily have solved today

The outcome of that match could have been totally different, including the final. Who knows, maybe the US could have gone further?
There are tons of examples, and we can think of something closer to us, imagine making a big bet and losing it because of a mistake by the referee?
That's pretty unfair

But one mistake by the referee breaks the pace of the game much more because the players argue and even if the game has resumed, then in the case of an obvious mistake the players think about it all the time and the game of the team against which the injustice was committed often turns out to be broken. And if the mistake affected the outcome of the game, then the entire tournament is broken (it’s unlikely that anyone will agree that they actually lost the game if the referee’s mistake affected its outcome). VAR is the lesser of two evils.
By the way, I follow chess, and the problem of cheating is very acute there, and you know, no one is happy that “human nature is such” that he can play not according to the rules (use computer tips). On the contrary, many believe that chess is already dead (all dead in general, there is no even talk about online).

[Hirose UK]

I dont know how MEssi is gonna arrive to the next World CUp, right now he is in good level but i see him being so much tired than before, and with two years more ahead, is gonna be dificult to see him playing at high level, clearly he can still play in one leg or stary in one position and keep being a key player but can be more complicated than that.

I not sure whether Messi can really be part of the Argentina national team for the 2026 World Cup because at this event Messi may have much more significant decline in playing quality.
Just look at the time Messi left Barcelona and the last time he played in the 2022 World Cup, he experienced some decline in his playing quality.
Such as his stamina starting to decline and he was no longer as impressive or as fast in every match he participated in.
This can also be proven that Messi is not core player because he cannot always be used in every match, perhaps also because the coach wants to see Messi doing well or avoiding injury or other bad things.
For the Copa America, it is still possible that Messi will be able to defend Argentina, but for the World Cup there is still no guarantee that Messi will remain core player.
Moreover, Scaloni who is Argentina coach, also stated that he does not guarantee that Messi will be part of the main squad, unless Messi can bring or help Argentina win the Copa America title.
Scaloni will consider him to be included in the main squad for the 2026 World Cup.