Messi injured, misses Argentina - Brazil match

Messi played the full 90 minutes and scored a beautiful lob to help Inter Miami beat Atlanta 2-1 in the fourth round of MLS on March 16. But after the match, he felt discomfort in his left adductor muscle. An MRI scan showed that the No. 10 striker had an injury to this muscle, although it was not too serious.

Messi was previously named in the 33-man list coach Lionel Scaloni has called up for Argentina's next two 2026 World Cup qualifiers - a trip to Uruguay on March 21 and a trip to Brazil on March 25. But after receiving an update from Inter Miami, Scaloni has removed the 37-year-old striker from his squad.

Before Messi, Argentina lost two other key players in this training camp, striker Paulo Dybala and right-back Gonzalo Montiel. Dybala suffered a recurrence of a left thigh injury when he came on as a substitute and then left after just 11 minutes in the middle of a 1-0 win over Cagliari in Serie A on March 16. Montiel suffered a torn muscle in River Plate's 0-0 draw with Riestra in the Argentine national championship on the same day.

Argentina currently lead the South American qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup with 25 points from 8 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses after 12 matches. Uruguay are next with 5 points less, while Brazil are fifth with only 18 points. Brazil are also without their number one striker Neymar - who has been regaining form since returning to play for Santos but suffered an injury just before the training camp.

In the first leg, Argentina lost 0-2 to Uruguay at home at the Bombonera on November 16, 2023, but won 1-0 in Brazil five days later. At that time, Messi played the entire match against Uruguay, and played 77 minutes before making way for Di Maria in the win over Brazil.