Printed On 7 Jun 2026
Lionel Messi sat out Argentina’s pleasant match in opposition to Honduras as he continues to handle muscle fatigue and a gentle pressure in his left hamstring prematurely of the upcoming World Cup.
Messi, who turns 39 in three weeks, was energetic after warming up along with his teammates at Kyle Subject on the campus of Texas A&M earlier than the sport on Saturday evening. He stayed on the bench, although, watching from the sidelines as Argentina received 2-0.
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The group has stated Messi’s recovery time will depend upon “his medical and useful progress.”
Messi was diagnosed with muscle fatigue in his left hamstring by his Main League Soccer (MLS) membership Inter Miami after he made an abrupt exit from Miami’s 6-4 victory over Philadelphia within the 73rd minute late final month.
Argentina subsequent play Iceland in Auburn, Alabama, on Tuesday in a last World Cup tune-up earlier than resuming their coaching in Kansas Metropolis, the place the Albiceleste will start their World Cup title defence in opposition to Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium on June 16.
Throughout exercises in Kansas Metropolis on Wednesday, Messi got here to the apply area after the remainder of the group and did some conditioning work off to the aspect.
Messi, who’s broadly anticipated to retire from worldwide soccer after the match, holds the report for many World Cup matches (26) and desires 4 extra objectives to surpass Germany’s Miroslav Klose’s World Cup report of 16.
Huge weapons win friendlies days earlier than World Cup
In the meantime, multi-champions Brazil and Germany additionally received their preparatory video games, though by small margins, with former champions England and hopeful Portugal securing victories, as properly.
The busy day of friendlies noticed a few of the largest gamers on show, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Vini Jr and Mohamed Salah enjoying.
5-time champions Brazil beat Egypt 2-1 in Cleveland, with Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes scoring early from contained in the field and Lyon ahead Endrick including within the second half after an help from Barcelona’s Raphinha. Zico scored for Egypt, whereas Salah performed the primary half and gave the impression to be in good type.
There was some drama, with Brazil and AS Roma right-back Wesley leaving the sphere in tears after what gave the impression to be a critical muscle damage within the left leg, which could take him out of the World Cup. Groups can change gamers as much as someday earlier than their first video games.
Harry Kane’s first-half header earned England a 1-0 win over New Zealand in Tampa, whereas there have been additionally victories for Scotland and Belgium as groups fine-tune earlier than the match’s kickoff subsequent week.
With England supervisor Thomas Tuchel rotating his whole group at halftime and handing minutes to 22 gamers within the scorching 32-degree-Celsius (89.6-degree-Fahrenheit) warmth, the consequence was secondary to the method.
However Kane’s medical end with a glancing header into the underside nook from Djed Spence’s cross supplied a well timed reminder of the skipper’s significance for his or her hopes to win a second cup.
4-time world champions Germany secured a ninth win in a row with a 2-1 victory over World Cup cohosts the US in Chicago.
Kai Havertz headed in Joshua Kimmich’s free kick to present them a second-minute lead, however the Individuals snatched a surprising equaliser when Antonee Robinson thundered in a volley after defender Jonathan Tah had headed away a nook.
Leroy Sane rifled in from 12 metres (39ft), nonetheless, to revive Germany’s lead within the 57th minute.
Portugal defeated Chile 2-1 in an ill-tempered conflict in Oeiras, the place each groups completed with 10 males as Rafael Leao and Ivan Roman acquired their marching orders.
Goncalo Guedes gave the house aspect the lead earlier than Bruno Fernandes added a second from exterior the field. Lucas Cepeda scored a late comfort for Chile.
“We have been superior within the 90 minutes, we managed to regulate the sport very properly, particularly having lots of the ball within the final third,” Fernandes advised RTP.
Striker Romelu Lukaku continued his comeback from damage for Belgium with 25 minutes off the bench as they loved a 5-0 victory over 10-man Tunisia in Brussels.
Leandro Trossard, Charles De Ketelaere, Kevin De Bruyne, Dodi Lukebakio and Nicolas Raskin scored the objectives as Lukaku grabbed an help.
“We needed efficiency in entrance of our followers,” Belgium coach Rudi Garcia stated. “It’s a good preparation for the World Cup, we all know this group can do nice issues.”
A much-changed Scotland scored all their objectives within the first half as they romped to a 4-0 success over Bolivia in New Jersey.
Che Adams bagged two to go along with strikes from Lawrence Shankland and Scott McTominay in a powerful efficiency.
Switzerland and Australia drew 1-1, whereas Bosnia and Herzegovina have been held to the identical scoreline by Panama.
