Messi Has Doubts about Playing 2026 World Cup at Age 39

Football - Ligue 1 - Montpellier v Paris St Germain - Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France - February 1, 2023 Paris St Germain's Lionel Messi during the match. (Reuters)
Football - Ligue 1 - Montpellier v Paris St Germain - Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France - February 1, 2023 Paris St Germain's Lionel Messi during the match. (Reuters)
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Messi Has Doubts about Playing 2026 World Cup at Age 39

Football - Ligue 1 - Montpellier v Paris St Germain - Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France - February 1, 2023 Paris St Germain's Lionel Messi during the match. (Reuters)
Football - Ligue 1 - Montpellier v Paris St Germain - Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France - February 1, 2023 Paris St Germain's Lionel Messi during the match. (Reuters)

Lionel Messi may be in doubt as to whether he’ll be still playing for Argentina at the 2026 World Cup but he’s sure about one thing: he wants Lionel Scaloni to stay on as head coach until then, regardless.

The 35-year-old Messi led Argentina to the title in Qatar last December and wasn’t entirely sure if his fifth trip to the World Cup would be his last. The next edition will take place in Mexico, Canada and the United States when Messi is 39.

Messi told newspaper Olé in an interview published Thursday that he'd regularly said his age would make it difficult to play another World Cup.

“I love playing soccer, I love what I do and while I am feeling well and feel I am fit and continue to enjoy it, I will do it. But it seems to be too much until the next World Cup,” he told the newspaper. “I have to see where my career goes, what I will do. It depends on many things.”

In the near future, he suggested he wants to play in next year's Copa America in the US to help Argentina defend its title.

“I will stay a little longer, I have to enjoy this,” he said.

Scaloni is negotiating an extension of his contract with the Argentinian soccer federation and Messi thinks the coach should remain on the job.

“He is very important for the national team,” Messi said. “To continue with this process would be spectacular.”

Asked what it was like returning to his club París Saint Germain after Argentina beat France on penalties to win the World Cup, Messi said he didn't have deep discussions about it with his teammate Kylian Mbappé, the French striker.

“One doesn't want to speak and bring the topic of the final,” Messi said, recalling his own experience after losing the 2014 World Cup final to Germany in Brazil. “I was also on the other side, I lost a World Cup final and I didn't want to talk about it.”

“Truth is there is no problem with Kylian, quite on the contrary,” Messi said.

Messi is set to play for Argentina in friendlies to be scheduled in Buenos Aires in March to celebrate the team's third World Cup title with their fans.



Trump to Sign Order Creating Olympics Task Force ahead of 2028 Games

Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games logo pictured at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 14, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo
Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games logo pictured at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 14, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo
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Trump to Sign Order Creating Olympics Task Force ahead of 2028 Games

Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games logo pictured at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 14, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo
Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games logo pictured at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 14, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo

US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday creating a White House Olympics task force to handle security and other issues related to the 2028 summer Olympic games, an administration official told Reuters.

The task force, made up of members from Trump's cabinet and government agencies, will coordinate federal, state and local government work on transportation, the official said.

It also will "streamline visa processing and credentialing for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media," the official said in an email.

The United States will host the Olympics in Los Angeles in three years. Trump, a Republican who lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, has expressed pleasure that his second term will coincide with the Olympics and the World Cup.

"During his first term, President Trump was instrumental in securing America's bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The president considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle in his second term," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Monday.

Last month organizers of the Los Angeles games released the first look at the Olympic competition schedule. The city had also hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984.

"The creation of this task force marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028,” Casey Wasserman, the chair and president of LA28, said in a statement.