Messi recovering well from injury, could feature in Argentina warm-ups, says Scaloni

BUENOS AIRES, June 5 : Lionel Messi is recovering well from a recent muscle injury and could feature in Argentina's final World Cup warm-up matches, coach Lionel Scaloni said on Friday.

The 38-year-old Messi suffered a muscle strain while playing for Inter Miami in a 6-4 Major League Soccer win over Philadelphia Union 10 days ago, raising concerns over his fitness ahead of the World Cup.

Reigning world champions Argentina will face Honduras in Texas on Saturday, before playing Iceland in Alabama on Tuesday in their final friendlies ahead of the World Cup.

"Leo is doing well, he's already trained with the group for part of the session, and that's significant. He's no longer training separately," Scaloni said at a press conference in the United States.

"He is improving a lot and could even take part in one of the (warm-up) matches for a few minutes. We'll see whether it's this one or the next, but he's much better and that gives us peace of mind."

With Messi set to play in his sixth World Cup, Scaloni also recounted the exchange in which he told the Argentina captain he had been selected for the squad.

"I sent him a message and he told me he would wait for the squad list to see if he had been called up," Scaloni said with a smile. "I told him, 'You're called up.' That's how it happened."

Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, captained Argentina to the World Cup title in Qatar in 2022.

The World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, runs from June 11 to July 19. Argentina open their title defence against Algeria on June 16 before facing Austria and Jordan in Group J.