{"id":52716,"date":"2026-05-25T15:57:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T10:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=52716"},"modified":"2026-05-25T15:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T10:29:09","slug":"lionel-messi-not-injured-suffers-only-muscle-fatigue-before-2026-fifa-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/football\/lionel-messi-not-injured-suffers-only-muscle-fatigue-before-2026-fifa-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi not injured, suffers only muscle fatigue before 2026 FIFA World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"auto\"><strong>Lionel Messi is not injured.<\/strong> The Argentina superstar only suffered from muscle fatigue during Inter Miami\u2019s MLS match, easing concerns ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as reported by Gast\u00f3n Edul.<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"auto\">Messi Substitution Scare vs Philadelphia Union<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"auto\">On Sunday, football fans around the world held their breath when Lionel Messi clutched the back of his left leg and asked to be substituted in the 73rd minute against the Philadelphia Union. The eight-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner left the pitch, sparking immediate injury fears just weeks before the World Cup begins on June 11.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">However, the situation has now been clarified. Reliable sources, including journalist Gast\u00f3n Edul, have confirmed it was <strong>only muscle fatigue<\/strong>, not a new injury. Messi walked normally after coming off and headed straight down the tunnel without any visible discomfort.<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"auto\">Coach Guillermo Hoyos Explains Precautionary Move<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Inter Miami coach Guillermo Hoyos later addressed the substitution, stating it was a <strong>precautionary decision<\/strong> due to the poor pitch conditions caused by heavy rain in Miami. Hoyos emphasized protecting the 38-year-old captain in difficult playing conditions.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">This careful management reflects how Inter Miami and the Argentina national team have handled Messi\u2019s workload in recent seasons.<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"auto\">Messi World Cup 2026 Hopes Remain Strong<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Messi has not yet officially confirmed his participation, but he is widely expected to feature in what would be his <strong>record-equalling sixth World Cup<\/strong>. Argentina\u2019s squad announcement is scheduled for next week, with the defending champions opening their campaign against Algeria on June 16.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">The 2022 World Cup winner continues to be the focal point for Argentina as they aim to defend their title on home soil for North America (co-hosted by USA, Canada, and Mexico).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lionel Messi is not injured. The Argentina superstar only suffered from muscle fatigue during Inter Miami\u2019s MLS match, easing concerns\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":52717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[487],"class_list":["post-52716","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\/52716","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=52716"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52720,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52716\/revisions\/52720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}