Spanish
The Argentine national football team, qualified for the 2026 World Cup for months, receives Venezuela this Thursday at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires, in a historic match: it will be Lionel Messi's last official match with the 'Albiceleste' in his country.
Without the venue for the next Copa América 2028 yet being designated, there will be no more official matches on Argentine soil until the 2034 World Cup qualifiers, which anticipates the farewell of the Argentine captain, since Argentina does not have to play the qualification for the 2030 World Cup for hosting one of the opening matches.
The 38-year-old Argentine star confirmed last week that the match against Venezuela will be his last home game in World Cup qualifiers, so Thursday's match will be his last official match at home.
"It's going to be special, it's going to be a very special match for me because it's the last qualifying match. I don't know if there will be friendlies or more matches afterwards," stated 'La Pulga' in an interview with Apple TV, thus closing the debate generated in recent times about whether the 2026 World Cup will be his last.
"My family will accompany me, my wife, my children, my parents. We are going to experience it that way. After that, I don't know what will happen, but we are going with that intention," he added.
Messi, winner with the 'Albiceleste' of two Copa América (2021 and 2024) and the Finalissima 2022, in addition to the 2022 World Cup, is set to start for Thursday's match, sharing the attack with Julián Álvarez and Thiago Almada.
In midfield, coach Lionel Scaloni would line up Rodrigo De Paul, 'Leo's' teammate at Inter Miami, alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Leandro Paredes, a Boca Juniors star who would take the place of the suspended Enzo Fernández.
The goalkeeper will be Emiliano Martínez and the defense would be the same as years ago, with Nicolás Tagliafico, Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero and Nicolás Otamendi, who, however, could be replaced by Leonardo Balerdi if he does not recover from a slight muscle overload.
Scaloni has taken advantage of the last qualifying rounds to give minutes to some young players thinking about the formation of the squad that will seek the world championship title next year, and on this occasion he included in the call-up Claudio Echeverri, Nicolás Paz, Julio Soler, Valentín Carboni and Franco Mastantuono, a recent acquisition of Real Madrid.
Venezuela, for its part, arrives at Thursday's match with the aspiration of continuing to add points to qualify for the first time in its history for the final phase of a World Cup.
After falling on the last day against Uruguay but previously stringing together victories against Bolivia and Peru, the 'Vinotinto' currently occupies seventh place in the qualifiers with 18 points and, if finishing in that position, would play a repechage to enter the World Cup.
The team led by Fernando 'Bocha' Batista is four units behind Colombia, which is sixth and would be taking the last direct qualifying spot, and one point ahead of Bolivia, eighth in the standings and seeking to take their place in the repechage.
"We got this far without anyone giving us anything, and I have a lot of faith in what we can do on Thursday. The guys are really eager. These are opportunities to make a name for ourselves," said the Argentine coach of Venezuela in dialogue with the ESPN signal.
Regarding the seasoning of Messi's farewell to his public in official matches, he mentioned that his players must abstract themselves from the situation, maintain concentration and continue on the path of the last matches.
Ahead of this Tuesday's match, Batista will be able to field practically the same team that lost 0-2 to Uruguay in the last match, with the exception of midfielder José Andrés Martínez, suspended for the match against Argentina and recently operated on for a hand injury.
After visiting Argentina, Venezuela will receive Colombia next Tuesday at the Monumental de Maturín Stadium, in a match that is shaping up to be decisive for their World Cup aspirations.
- Probable Lineups:
