Why won’t Messi be playing with Argentina National Team in CONMEBOL Qualifiers?

Argentina National Team will be playing against Chile and Colombia for the World Cup Qualifiers this weekend, but they’ll have to face both matches without one of their best players, Lionel Messi, who wasn’t called by Lionel Scaloni.

Messi will miss the CONMEBOL Qualifiers in order to rest and get back in shape, after being out of the pitches for over a month. He just recently played his first game of the year as a substitute with PSG in the 4-0 victory against Stade de Reims.

After testing positive for Covid after the winter break, which prolonged his stay in Argentina as he had to isolate himself, the 34-year-old has had a rough start in 2022, as he still carries the consequences of the virus, and even though he already tested negative and joined PSG training sessions, he’s still recovering.

But for everyone’s surprise, it wasn’t Messi who decided to stay in Paris instead of playing with La Albiceleste. Scaloni himself had a conversation with “La Pulga” prior the announcement of the 30 men that are part of the Argentinian squad, to convince him to fully recover before joining again, and given that Argentina has already secured their spot in 2022 FIFA World Cup, Messi agreed with him.

How many games has Messi missed since debuting with Argentina?

Messi debuted with Argentina senior team back in 2005, in a match against Hungary that La Albiceleste won by a 2-1 score. “La Pulga” was only 18 years old and didn’t have the best of the debuts, as he was sent off a minute after he jumped in the pitch.

But since that bitter debut, Messi has been an immovable player with Argentina National Team, as he’s only missed games when he was injured, suspended or weren’t official games. In total, the Rosario-born has missed 18 matches for being injured and 5 for being suspended since his debut 17 years ago.

During that same span of time, the PSG striker has been called to 164 games, starting on 143 of them, as a substitute in 15 more and he stayed in the bench the remainder 6 games.

When will Messi will play again?

He already had his first minutes after returning from covid last weekend, but he might get his first apparition in Mauricio Pochettino’s starting XI next Monday, when PSG receives OGC Nice for the round of 16 in the French Cup, given that PSG won’t have some of their starting players due to the World Cup Qualifiers match window.

Lionel Messi will have two Ligue 1 matches in February to get back in shape before facing Real Madrid in the round of 16 of Champions League, a match he won’t miss by any chance.

What’s in store for Argentina National Team?

Argentina National team will visit this Thursday Chile National Team, where Argentina will try to get closer to Brazil, who currently stand first in CONMEBOL. Then, La Albiceleste will receive Colombia National Team in Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes.

Argentina will have two more matches in CONMEBOL Qualifiers in March, against Venezuela and Ecuador, to define the four National Teams that will be in Qatar for the World Cup -Brazil and Argentina already have secured their assistance-, and the fifth team that will dispute a playoff match against an Asian National Team.