MIAMI — Inter Miami CF teammates Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul are the only two MLS-based players on Argentina’s roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which kicks off June 11 across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Messi, 38, enters the tournament as Argentina’s most-capped player with 198 appearances and all-time leading scorer with 116 goals. He holds the record for most World Cup appearances at 26 games and most minutes played at 2,314-plus, and is set to participate in his joint-record sixth World Cup. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has compiled 90 goals and 51 assists in 104 matches across all competitions since his transformative arrival in South Florida in the summer of 2023.
De Paul, 32, joined Inter Miami on loan from Atlético Madrid midway through the 2025 MLS campaign after spending over a decade in Europe. He capped his first half-season in South Florida by scoring the title-clinching goal in Miami’s 3-1 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC in MLS Cup 2025. Fully acquired as a Designated Player last winter, De Paul has produced 4 goals and 7 assists in 13 appearances during the 2026 MLS campaign, bringing his overall MLS totals to 4 goals and 11 assists in 24 appearances.
Both players were central to Argentina’s 2022 FIFA World Cup title run, where De Paul earned the nickname of Messi’s “bodyguard” from the media. De Paul has earned 85 caps and scored 2 goals for the national team since his senior debut in late 2018. The pair also share two Copa América titles, won in 2021 and 2024, with the most recent captured in the United States. At the club level, both are 2025 MLS Cup champions, while Messi added the 2024 Supporters’ Shield, the 2023 Leagues Cup title, the 2025 MLS Golden Boot and back-to-back Landon Donovan MLS MVP awards in 2024 and 2025.
Argentina, three-time World Cup champions who lifted the trophy in 1978 as hosts, 1986 and 2022, topped South American qualifying by nine points over second-place Ecuador. Conmebol teams were allocated 6 direct qualifying slots. Argentina have qualified for 14 straight tournaments after missing the 1970 World Cup in Mexico and are set to play in their 19th World Cup overall.
The expanded 48-nation tournament places Argentina in Group J alongside Algeria, Austria and Jordan. Head coach Lionel Scaloni’s squad opens play June 16 against Algeria at 9 p.m. ET in Kansas City, Missouri, followed by Austria on June 22 at 1 p.m. ET in Dallas, Texas, and Jordan on June 27 at 10 p.m. ET in Dallas. The top two teams advance from each group, and the top eight third-place finishers also reach the Round of 32. The tournament runs through July 19.