Lionel Scaloni says Lionel Messi will start for Argentina against Zambia in final 2026 World Cup warm-up

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·31 March 2026

Lionel Scaloni says Lionel Messi will start for Argentina against Zambia in final 2026 World Cup warm-up

Lionel Scaloni says Lionel Messi will start when Argentina face Zambia in their final warm-up before the 2026 World Cup.

L'Équipe reports that the game is at La Bombonera in the early hours of Wednesday, kicking off at 1.15am. Argentina edged Mauritania 2-1 on Saturday, a side featuring Jordan Lefort and Djeidi Gassama, with Nico Paz scoring from a free-kick, but the display failed to convince.

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In front of their home crowd, the Albiceleste will aim to look sharper than in that outing. Messi featured only after the interval in the first friendly.

Scaloni added that he intends to pick a much more familiar line-up than in that match, and he expressed hope the team finally shows the version everyone wants to see again.

Argentina begin their World Cup campaign on 17 June against Algeria.

Source: L'Équipe