Will Lionel Messi play tonight for Argentina vs Venezuela in International friendly?

Will the forward participate in this friendly game?

Despite their unimpressive 1-0 loss to Ecuador in their last game of their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, Argentina finished as the most successful team in the CONMEBOL qualifiers with 38 points from 18 games. That is an impressive nine points ahead of second-place Ecuador and about 10 points ahead of fifth-place Brazil.

They would be among the favourites to win the trophy again the following year if Lionel Scaloni’s team could build on their victory over France in the 2022 final.

Argentina have defeated Venezuela in 25 of their last 30 meetings, including a 3-0 victory in a September 2025 World Cup qualifying match.

This international friendly might be Lionel Messi‘s 195th appearance for the national team. However, there have been rumours that Messi would play for Inter Miami against Atlanta United before joining Argentina for the Puerto Rico game, making his place in the squad uncertain.

Will Messi play tonight?

Lionel Scaloni, the manager of Argentina, stated on Thursday that he was still uncertain whether Lionel Messi, the captain, would play in La Albiceleste’s friendly match against Venezuela.

Despite being healthy, Messi might be benched for tonight’s match at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, according to Scaloni, to give other players a chance.

“We’ve spoken with him but we haven’t decided on the team yet,” Scaloni told reporters.

“These matches give us a chance to try things and observe, but we’ll talk with him and decide today. I’d like to test different options because that’s what these games are for.”

Messi may instead play for Inter Miami in Saturday’s home MLS matchup against Atlanta United, according to Argentine media.

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