Lionel Messi: I value happiness over reaching 2026 World Cup

Lionel Messi said he prioritizes the ability to stay happy and healthy at this point in his career over fixating on reaching the 2026 FIFA World Cup with Argentina.

Messi, 37, has left the door open to playing in the next World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, despite previously suggesting that the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when he led Argentina to the title, would be his last.

Still, after scoring a hat trick in Argentina’s World Cup win over Bolivia on Tuesday, he acknowledged that ” I know these can be my last games.”

“In the moment, we will see,” Messi said Thursday after receiving the America legend award from Spanish publication Marca. “I don’t like to accelerate time or look ahead. I try to enjoy every day. I hope I can keep playing at this level to feel good and be happy.

“When I get to do what I love, I am happy. I value that more than reaching the 2026 tournament. I haven’t set a goal to reach the World Cup, but more so to live day-to-day and be well.”

The forward started his professional career in 2004, making his official debut with Barcelona when facing Espanyol in a regular-season LaLiga match on Oct. 16 of that year. He has gone on to make 898 club appearances over a 20-year span, featuring for Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami CF after leaving Barcelona in 2021.

Internationally, he worked his way through the Argentine youth national team before reaching the senior team in 2005. He boasts a total of 112 goals in 189 appearances for Argentina, having featured in every major tournament since his debut.

Messi has become an integral part of La Albiceleste’s recent success, leading the team as captain to two Copa América trophies, the 2022 FIFA World Cup title and one Finalissima win.

He has clinched 48 major trophies in his career, but he remains determined to keep succeeding now with Inter Miami.

“The step I took to come here [to Inter Miami] didn’t mean retiring,” he said. “We came here to try and keep making this team big, to help the development by winning titles, which we have and we’re close to clinching more.”

Messi led Miami to a meteoric rise in 2024, inspiring a 21-4-8 (W-L-D) record to lift the Major League Soccer Supporters’ Shield and be poised to break the league record for most points in a single season with a win over the New England Revolution on Saturday.

The team also secured home-field advantage through the entirety of the MLS playoffs by securing the Supporters’ Shield.