As the football world eagerly anticipates Argentina\u2019s 2026 World Cup Qualifier against Chile on June 5, 2025, one question dominates the headlines: Will Lionel Messi return to the starting lineup? The Inter Miami star and Argentina captain has rejoined the national team after a seven-month hiatus, but head coach Lionel Scaloni has yet to confirm whether the 37-year-old legend will start in this crucial match in Santiago. Let\u2019s dive into the latest updates.<\/p>\n
Lionel Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, last played for Argentina in November 2024, contributing an assist in a 1-0 victory over Peru. A muscle injury sidelined him for the March 2025 international break, but his recent performances with Inter Miami\u2014scoring five goals in three MLS matches\u2014signal a strong return to form. His arrival at Argentina\u2019s training complex on June 3 has sparked excitement among fans, with social media buzzing about the potential for a \u201cGOAT\u201d performance against Chile.<\/p>\n
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has remained non-committal about Messi\u2019s role in the upcoming match. Speaking at a press conference, Scaloni noted, \u201cI spoke to Leo, and we\u2019ve kept in touch. We haven\u2019t decided yet if he\u2019ll start against Chile\u2014we need to talk to him first.\u201d The coach emphasized the need to assess Messi\u2019s physical condition, given his demanding schedule, which includes a subsequent match against Colombia and Inter Miami\u2019s FIFA Club World Cup debut on June 14.<\/p>\n
Messi\u2019s recent performances for Inter Miami have been nothing short of spectacular. Named MLS Player of the Week twice in a row, he was involved in all five goals during a 5-1 victory over Columbus Crew. With 182 caps and 112 goals for Argentina, Messi remains the nation\u2019s all-time leading scorer and a pivotal figure in their 2022 World Cup triumph. His potential inclusion against Chile could be a game-changer, especially given Chile\u2019s struggles, sitting at the bottom of the CONMEBOL standings with just 10 points from 14 matches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the football world eagerly anticipates Argentina\u2019s 2026 World Cup Qualifier against Chile on June 5, 2025, one question dominates\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":36690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[487],"class_list":["post-15509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-lionel-messi"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}