Argentina national team manager Lionel Scaloni confirmed that Lionel Messi will start the friendly against Zambia on Tuesday night at La Bombonera.
“Yes, I think he’ll start from the beginning tomorrow [against Zambia],” Scaloni said.
Messi is expected to earn his first start of the March international window with Argentina, after being used as a halftime substitute by Scaloni in the 2-1 victory over Mauritania on March 27 at La Bombonera.
Scaloni said he’ll use the friendlies against Mauritania and Zambia to determine the 26-player roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, analyzing each performance to make a final decision.
“The list of 26 players [for the World Cup], I think we’re above the percentage. We have to start discarding options now based on performance. There is no other option,” said Scaloni.
The reigning World Cup champions defeated Mauritania — a lower-ranked opponent (115th in the FIFA rankings) that has never qualified for the World Cup — by a narrow 2-1 margin on Friday.
“The game the other night could’ve been an alert, it’s things that as a head coach one starts looking at and later, we will decide,” Scaloni said.
We will think about the good of the team and based on that we will make decisions. I’d say I have the list quite clear but if the performances aren’t adequate then we will take measures and then be convinced with the players we take to do the best possible job.”
Though Scaloni previously confirmed that Messi has not decided whether he’ll join Argentina at the World Cup, he insisted that the country would love to see him with the team for the upcoming tournament.
“The important thing is that he comes and enjoys it. That he enjoy being at the World Cup, which in theory would be the last, but I wouldn’t dare to say anything, but that he enjoys it,” Scaloni said.
“I think it’s not just Argentines who want to see him, everyone wants to see him. They want to see him train, see him play, and that is what we all wish for.”
Argentina, world champions in 1978, 1986, and 2022, will make their debut against Algeria on June 16 in Group J in Kansas City. They will then face Austria on June 22 and Jordan on June 27.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
