Lionel Messi will be aiming for FIFA World Cup 2022 glory with Argentina. The Argentine captain is expected to be in his last World Cup, and it was further confirmed by him in an interaction with CONMEBOL. The PSG superstar will be leading a side boasting the likes of Angel Di Maria, Lautaro Martinez, Nicolas Otamendi, Paulo Dybala, Alejandro Gomez, Rodriigo De Paul and Emi Martinez. He was also in terrific form during Argentina’s recent warm-up friendly against UAE, where he scored a wonder goal in the first-half to help his team win 5-0, at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Argentina open their campaign on November 22, against Group C opponents Saudi Arabia, followed by Mexico on November 27. Their final Group C fixture is scheduled for December 1, against Mexico.
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“I love football, I love playing it and I enjoy it, the only thing I’ve done all my life is play football, and I’m sure that whatever I do after will be related to it, although I don’t know what. I don’t think I’ll play much more”, the 35-year-old said to CONMEBOL, hinting at a possible retirement.
When questioned about a possible return to boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys, he replied, “I don’t know, so many things happen… It was a dream that I always had as a child, of being able to play in Argentine football, that I would go to the pitch and I wanted to be there. But today it depends on many things, I have my family, three children, I just had a very big change in my life that was difficult for me and my whole family. Now I have gotten over it and we feel spectacular.”
“Now I enjoy a city that seems beautiful to me. The first year was a big change and it took a long time. I was prevented from enjoying everything because it was a decision that came suddenly”, he further added.
This will be Messi’s fifth World Cup, with 2014 being his best campaign as Argentina finished runners-up, losing to Germany in the final. He was also awarded the Golden Ball in 2014. In 2018, Argentina had a disastrous campaign in Russia, losing to eventual winners France in the second round. Having recently defeated UAE in their friendly, Argentina extended their unbeaten run to 36 matches, which also included their 2021 Copa America victory and 2022 Finalissima win.