Messi ends his mission in the Argentina national team

With the 2026 World Cup expanded to 48 teams, including 6 and a half slots for the South American region, which only has 10 teams, the 'big guys' can be completely assured. This was just confirmed in the series of matches yesterday morning (September 5).

Messi scored twice

Argentina's final home match in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers is also the farewell match for star Lionel Messi. He will not play any more official matches in his homeland. He also made it clear that he will not be part of the team in the final qualifying match - against Ecuador on the opponent's field on the morning of September 10 (Vietnam time). Whether or not he will play in the 2026 World Cup finals next summer, that is something Messi himself is not sure about. The defending World Cup champions have long won their tickets, and are even certain to attend the World Cup as group winners in the South American qualifying round. In the final home match, Messi scored 2 goals, helping Argentina beat Venezuela 3-0. This result also indirectly helped Uruguay and Paraguay qualify for the finals, regardless of their match results. In fact, Uruguay beat Peru 3-0 and Paraguay drew 0-0 with Ecuador. Colombia also qualified for the finals after beating Bolivia 3-0 this morning. The rest was a completely meaningless match: Brazil (already booked) beat Chile (already eliminated) 3-0.

Messi scored twice in his farewell match for his home fans.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Thus, the 6 South American teams officially participating in the 2026 World Cup are Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay. The South American qualifying round with 10 teams playing a round-robin tournament, which started 2 years ago (September 7, 2023), will end with the final match on the morning of September 10, with 2 meaningful matches: Venezuela - Colombia and Bolivia - Brazil. The only South American team that has never appeared in the World Cup arena, Venezuela, is currently holding the 7th position, which means a play-off spot for a ticket to the finals, 1 point more than Bolivia.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/messi-ket-thuc-su-menh-o-doi-tuyen-argentina-185250905222235617.htm