Messi makes a strong statement ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

In an interview with ESPN after today's friendly match against Iceland on June 10th, Lionel Messi confirmed that he has fully recovered from his injury and is ready to participate in the 2026 World Cup with the Argentine national team. The 38-year-old superstar emphasized that he and his teammates are in good mental and physical condition, ready for their journey to defend their world championship title.

"The Argentina national team is always full of hope whenever a tournament begins – especially the World Cup. This generation of players will not disappoint the fans. They have proven that by playing their hearts out in many tournaments, always maintaining their enthusiasm and fighting spirit.

This is truly a team with a winning spirit, always wanting more. We will take things step by step as always, but with great enthusiasm, hope, and belief in what we can achieve." channels ESPN Quoting Lionel Messi.

The Argentina team enters. World Cup 2026 As the reigning champions of the tournament, some stars who won the cup four years ago, such as Paulo Dybala, Angel Di Maria, and Papu Gomez, are no longer on the roster, but coach Lionel Scaloni still has a squad that combines experience and new talent.

The star, born in 1987, added: “This team deserves everything it has. We will give our all, as always. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we don't, but we are fortunate to have had positive results in recent years.”

It's difficult, and getting harder and harder, but we've gotten used to it, and we've also gotten the fans used to it. We'll try again. Whether we succeed or not is a matter of football, but it will be very difficult for our opponents to beat us, because this is a very competitive team.”

On the morning of June 10th, Lionel Messi played 20 minutes in a friendly match between Argentina and Iceland in Alabama, USA. The 38-year-old superstar scored from the penalty spot – his second goal in the reigning World Cup champions' 3-0 victory. This goal also helped Messi set a new record for the Argentine national team.

"I've been enjoying this World Cup since the very beginning. I'm happy and experiencing every moment and I'm as excited as ever. I feel great right now."

I've been eager to get back on the pitch for a long time after recovering from a calf injury. I also want to shake off the persistent anxieties associated with injuries and play comfortably. There's still a week for all the players to recover their fitness and be ready for the opening match." Messi said.

According to the Argentine newspaper Ole, Lionel Messi has become the oldest player to score for the Argentine national team (38 years and 350 days old). The previous record belonged to Angel Labruna, who scored his last goal for Argentina in 1957 at the age of 38 years and 282 days. That goal was against Brazil (Argentina won 2-1).

Argentina will begin their title defense campaign with a match against Algeria on June 16, before facing Austria on June 22 and Jordan on June 27.