Messi shuts the door on another World Cup: “That’s a no” | OneFootball

Just over 80 minutes in his debut against Algeria were more than enough for Lionel Messi to shatter an endless list of records. With his hat trick for the Argentina national team, he became the all-time top scorer in World Cups (16, alongside Miroslav Klose), the first to play in six World Cups (Guillermo Ochoa was on the bench for Mexico and Cristiano Ronaldo will compete this afternoon with Portugal), the oldest player to find the net, and much more.

A genius at nearly 39 years old, he always has an ace up his sleeve. On the night in Kansas City, he once again showed that he remains a standout star, a true nightmare for defenders and goalkeepers. Luca Zidane, son of the legendary Zizou, experienced it firsthand. There is still more than a month of competition left (the final will be on July 19 in New Jersey), and the national team will have to keep advancing if it wants to repeat the feat of Qatar, but there are already fans who, seeing him leave rivals sprawled out as if it were Germany 2006, dare to dream that he could be there for the 2030 edition.

He will be 42 years old, surely with many more goals, assists, and unbeatable records. On more than one occasion, he has made it clear that he will keep stepping onto the pitch until his legs tell him enough is enough: “I’m going to play until I can’t anymore. My age doesn’t matter to me.” That is why TyC Sports did not hesitate to ask him whether a seventh World Cup is a possibility. He first let out a smile, like someone fantasizing about something still very far away, but he soon delivered a blunt answer: “No, no, definitely not, haha.”

Messi’s reaction to the possibility of playing in a seventh World Cup with the Argentina national team: “Definitely not, haha”

And he expanded on it in the mixed zone: “As I’ve been saying here, the truth is we’re in good shape to compete. This group has always shown that it competes, that it doesn’t relax. No matter the opponent, it always tries to take the initiative. The first half wasn’t easy; it’s getting harder and harder to compete. We’ve been seeing at the World Cup that every match is very even and nobody gives you anything.”

His mind is focused on this World Cup. And the goal is clear: to play all eight matches and reach the pinnacle once again. “We’ll compete and we’ll try to go as far as we can,” he said in closing to the microphones. Of course, being the competitive beast that he is, he is not only talking about this biggest stage, but also about the twilight of his career.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.