Lionel Messi has returned to training and could feature in one of Argentinas World Cup warm-up games in a huge boost for the defending champions.Messi was withdrawn by Inter Miami boss Guillermo Hoyos during their MLS game with Philadelphia Union on May 24 with what was described as muscle fatigue.The 38-year-olds fitness has become one of the main talking points ahead of the tournament that gets underway on Thursday but Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni offered a positive update on Messi ahead of tonights friendly with Honduras in Texas.Leos doing well, he is no different to anyone else, Scaloni said. He has already trained with the group for part of the session.He is no longer training alone. He is doing much better, and that gives us peace of mind.It may be he is part of the squad [for the warm-up games]. Well see if it is tonight or the next one against Iceland and let him play a few minutes.Table of ContentsMessi trains fully amid Scaloni praiseArgentinas injury situation is improving ScaloniMessi trains fully amid Scaloni praiseArgentinian newspaper Ole report Messi did a full workout on Friday, joining in with the warm-ups, the rondos and, most importantly, the sprint work.Messi repeatedly said over the past few months that he did not know if he would participate in the World Cup, and never confirmed he would make himself available.Instead, he waited to see if he had been called up, not that it was ever in question.Scaloni added: I sent him a message, and he said he had been waiting to hear if hed been named. Okay, well hes called up.Everyone was waiting to see if there would be an announcement, me too. In the end, he did what every player does waited to be called up.It gave me a tremendous sense of calm when he told me he wasnt going to make an announcement, hed just wait to be called up. Thats what happened.I only had contact with him when I saw it was the right moment, a little bit before the announcement and the list of players was almost confirmed, to check [his availability] and that was his response.Argentinas injury situation is improving ScaloniScaloni has other injury worries to contend with ahead of Argentinas first game, against Algeria on June 16.Julian Alvarez has an ankle problem and Leandro Paredes a muscle sprain that forced them to train indoors at Argentinas training base in Kansas City.The situation is improving, Scaloni said. Theyre fine, and we dont want to risk them in these games, and the idea is they wont take part in these friendlies.In this one [against Honduras], definitely not. In the second, there might be a chance that one of them could play.For now, everything is going quite well, and next week well see. Topics Argentina National Football Team Lionel Messi Add us as a preferred source on Google If you enjoy reading this article, you can help support our independent football journalism by adding 101 Great Goals as a preferred source You Should Also Read World Cup 2026 Group J: Preview, prediction, players to watch, fixtures and TV details Mitch Fretton 5th June, 2026 Argentina v Honduras: International friendly line-ups, stats and preview, TV channel, live online stream and prediction for 2026 FIFA World Cup warm-up match Ben Miller 5th June, 2026 Lego World Cup trophy: Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe and Vinicius Jr and the story behind their 2026 ad Ben Miller 3rd June, 2026 Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr: Behind the scenes on Lego World Cup trophy ad 2026 Ben Miller 3rd June, 2026 Messi training alone as Argentina star in race against time to make World Cup Mitch Fretton 2nd June, 2026 Messi included in Argentina World Cup squad after injury fears Nicholas McGee 29th May, 2026
