Lionel Messi is nursing an Achilles injury only two weeks before the start of the World Cup 2022.
Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed that Messi will miss Sunday afternoon’s Ligue 1 match against Lorient due to ‘inflammation’ of his Achilles tendon and is believed to be a ‘precautionary measure’.
The French champions expect the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner to be able to return to team training next week, although Argentina fans are sure to be sweating given how close the start of the World Cup is this month.
With the Qatar tournament following a break in club football with almost no real break, any sort of setback at this stage could be a bigger problem.
Messi has never won a World Cup, the last thing missing from his incredible career after finally getting his hands on the first senior international trophy at Copa America 2021.
The 35-year-old saw Argentina knocked out in the quarter-finals in 2006 and 2010, while in 2018 they were knocked out at the last 16 stage. But Messi and the Albiceleste reached the final on enemy soil in Brazil in 2014. losing to Germany in extra time.
Argentina are favorites to win the World Cup in what would be their first title since 1986, thanks to a 35-game unbeaten run, just two short of equaling Italy’s world record for international unbeaten matches.
Lionel Scaloni’s side are scheduled to play a friendly against the United Arab Emirates on November 16 before taking on Saudi Arabia in Group C on November 22. The World Cup itself begins on November 20, when Qatar will face Ecuador in Group A.
