Lionel Messi admits he will keep his decision from the beginning of the year, which is not to attend the 2026 World Cup in the US and Canada.
“As I said before, I don’t think I will participate in the next World Cup. I do not change that decision,” the Argentine superstar shared with Chinese media. “I want to be at the 2026 World Cup as a spectator, not a player.”
Leo also confirmed that the Golden Ball title no longer means much to him. “Is the Ballon d’Or important to me? No, at this stage of my life that title is no longer important to me. I always say, the individual award is not important to me but the collective award is new. most important to me”.
The 2022 World Cup champion added: “The most important title for me at this stage of my life is the World Cup. That’s the biggest reward for me. If I win more Ballon d’s, that’s fine, if not, it’s not. nothing”. The striker born in 1987 also admitted that he still kept in touch with Pep Guardiola and affirmed that the old teacher deserved to win the Champions League with Man City.
Messi is in China to play with Argentina in a friendly match. The presence of the person who won 7 Golden Balls created a fever for the country of billions of people. CNN reported that Messi and his teammates were stuck in a hotel when they could not move to a bus to another place on June 11. Hundreds of fans gathered around the Argentina team’s base in Beijing to wait to meet the idol. Many fans are willing to spend 1400 USD to rent a hotel in Beijing, near where the Argentina team is stationed, to find opportunities to meet their idols.
Argentina will play a friendly match against Australia in Beijing at 19:00 on June 15 (Hanoi time). After facing Australia, Argentina will go to Jakarta to play a friendly match with Indonesia on June 19.
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