Lionel Messi refuses to rule out playing at 2030 World Cup | OneFootball

Earlier this week, Lionel Messi became the all-time record goalscorer at World Cups, surpassing Germany’s Miroslav Klose. The Barcelona icon has already netted five goals at this summer’s instalment of the legendary tournament, which he is hoping to win for a second time.

After he finally achieved glory in 2022, many thought that Messi would announce his international retirement. He did not, and now he’s targeting back-to-back World Cups. He’s already played at six tournaments, and remarkably, he’s failed to rule out appearing at a seventh.

Messi, whose Argentina teammate Julian Alvarez has been strongly linked with a summer move to Barcelona, was asked about the prospect of playing at the 2030 World Cup, set in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. As per Sport, he refused to say either way whether he will feature, as he’s choosing not to look too far ahead at these late stages of his career.

I’ll continue for a while, as long as I can keep doing my best, feel physically good and can keep racing and helping my teammates… I will continue playing. I don’t know (if I’ll play at the 2030 World Cup), the truth is that I don’t think about it now. I see it a little far away… But, as I said, I live day by day and I focus on the present.”

Seventh World Cup may be too much for Messi

It would be utterly remarkable if Messi did play at the 2030 World Cup. He will be 43 by that point, so it’d entirely depend on whether his body is still able to cope with the demands of top-level football, which he will not know until closer to the time.

However, there’s no doubt that the lure of playing in Spain, a nation he is synonymous with from his time at Barcelona, will be something that comes to mind when Messi decides whether he can play again in four years’ time.