Lionel Messi openly acknowledged his apprehension about returning to international duty with Argentina following a series of recent injury setbacks.
The World Cup champion made his comeback for La Albiceleste on Thursday, marking his first appearance since sustaining a muscular injury during the previous international break last month.
Messi, who is 36 years old, entered the game during the second half, contributing to Argentina’s narrow 1-0 victory over Paraguay, secured by Nicolas Otamendi’s early third-minute goal. This win maintained Argentina’s perfect qualification run for the 2026 World Cup in North America.
Messi shared his initial feelings, admitting, “At first I was half scared, I wasn’t completely loose,”
He was acutely aware of his recent injury, a scar tissue problem in his right hamstring, which caused him to miss four games for Inter Miami and significantly limited his appearances in Major League Soccer (MLS) for his new club.
Additionally, he was omitted from Lionel Scaloni’s squad for the match against Bolivia last month due to concerns about the injury, which had seemingly occurred during Argentina’s previous game against Ecuador on September 7.
In Thursday’s 1-0 victory, Messi made his first international appearance for the World Cup-winning team since recovering from the injury, entering the match in the 53rd minute.
He expressed his satisfaction with his performance, saying,”Luckily, I felt really good, I could build up training, minutes: I was out of action for quite a while, and I hope I can continue training fully to be able to feel like today. I’m happy because we were able to get the three points,”
He also mentioned that in the previous match against Bolivia, he had to watch from the sidelines due to the challenging conditions in La Paz. However, he praised the team’s strong first-half performance against Paraguay and expressed his optimism about the future.
Argentina currently leads the South American qualifiers with three consecutive victories and will head to Lima for another qualifier against Peru on Tuesday.
Messi noted, “It’s difficult to play in the qualifiers, as we always say: it’s hard to play them, to find spaces, play quickly, against Paraguay, which is always difficult, we did well and had lots of shots on goal. We were able to finish the first half well with the lead.”
“We’re happy because we have continued in the same way for a while and we could leave with the better result.”
After fulfilling his international duties with La Albiceleste, Messi’s MLS season is set to conclude on October 21 with a match against Charlotte, as Inter Miami has already been eliminated from playoff contention.
In his recent appearance against FC Cincinnati, Messi played for just 36 minutes as a substitute during a losing effort. Following the conclusion of the MLS season in October, reports indicated the possibility of Messi considering a loan move to Saudi Arabia or a return to Barcelona, as MLS’s regular season was not scheduled to resume until February after ending on October 21.
However, Fabrizio Romano dismissed these claims on Wednesday, affirming that Messi’s primary focus remained on Miami and the Argentine national team as he prepares for a busy November.
Following the conclusion of the MLS season, Messi is expected to participate in World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil. There have also been reports of Inter Miami traveling to China and Japan for a pair of post-season friendly matches.
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini
ArgentinaThis season he played in total 5 times for 282 minutes for Major League Soccer.
Lionel Messi scored 1 goal for Inter Miami. He procured twice assists. He received no yellow cards and no red cards.
His team is currently 14th in Major League Soccer. In the last match Inter Miami lost 1-0 against Cincinnati.
Inter Miami performance and stats
Inter Miami
Inter Miami is currently 14th in the Major League Soccer with 33 points.
In the last 32 games, it has won 9 times, drawn 6 times, and lost 17 times. In its last match, Inter Miami lost 0-1 against Cincinnati.
It has a negative goal difference after scoring 39 goals and conceding 51.
Inter Miami will play the next match in Major League Soccer against Charlotte on Thursday 19th of October in Fort Lauderdale. The prediction is Inter Miami winning the match.
