KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off its first match for defending champions Argentina here at Arrowhead Stadium on Tuesday night, all eyes are fixed on one man: Lionel Messi, the Argentine icon widely regarded as the greatest soccer player of all time. For Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni, who shares a deep-rooted connection with Messi that stretches back decades, the global fascination with the 36-year-old forward is no surprise.
Both Scaloni and Messi hail from Argentina’s Santa Fe province, and both rose through the youth ranks of Newell’s Old Boys, the storied Rosario-based club that has produced a long list of soccer legends, from Gabriel Batistuta to current U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino. Having watched Messi’s career unfold for nearly his entire professional life, Scaloni says the entire world craves to see Messi step onto the pitch.
“Not only the Argentinian population but everybody — the whole planet — wants to see him play,” Scaloni said in an interview ahead of the opening Group C match against Algeria. “Everybody wants to see him on the pitch, because he has an effect not only on Argentina fans but supporters all over the world.”
For many fans in attendance on Tuesday, this will likely be the final chance to watch Messi compete in a World Cup wearing Argentina’s iconic light blue and white striped jersey. Questions about Messi’s fitness circulated in the weeks leading up to the tournament, after the Inter Miami star picked up a minor hamstring injury. But those concerns appear to have been put to rest: in training sessions open to reporters, Messi has looked sharp and comfortable, and he played 20 minutes without issue in Argentina’s final pre-tournament tuneup against Iceland last week, entering as a second-half substitute and scoring a penalty just minutes after checking in.
Barring any last-minute unforeseen issue, Messi will hit a historic milestone in Tuesday’s match, earning his 200th cap for the Argentine senior national team. Scaloni made clear that Messi remains an irreplaceable core of the side’s title defense bid.
“There’s nothing negative to say,” Scaloni said. “He’s always been there, and he’s essential for us. He’s going to remain that way.”
Messi mania has already fully taken over Kansas City, with fans traveling from across the region to catch a glimpse of the star ahead of kickoff. Tapash Chakraborty, a 57-year-old engineering firm owner, set up at a local downtown bar 24 hours before the match, hoping to meet Messi ahead of the game. Chakraborty, who has a ticket for Tuesday’s clash, put it simply: “Messi is Messi. He is the god of football.”
Chakraborty is far from alone. Messi’s famous No. 10 is everywhere across the city, emblazoned on everything from vintage Barcelona jerseys to current Inter Miami kits to Argentina national team shirts. Michelle Lemmon, a former college soccer player, drove 160 miles from her home in Kirksville, Missouri, to Kansas City with her four children to celebrate her 42nd birthday, drawn by the chance to see Messi play. Though Lemmon will cheer for the U.S. throughout the tournament, she says her dream final would be a matchup between the U.S. and Argentina.
“I’m nervous that this might be his last World Cup, so we’re very excited,” Lemmon said. “Honored that they chose Kansas City as their home base. To have the 2022 World Cup champions here, you know, it’s amazing. It’s hard. You’ve got to like him.”
A win for Argentina in this tournament would not only extend Messi’s legacy — it would tie him even closer to the only other name consistently mentioned alongside him in the GOAT debate: Brazilian legend Pele. Only two nations in history have successfully defended a World Cup title: Italy, which won back-to-back tournaments in the 1930s, and Brazil, which repeated as champions in 1962 even after Pele suffered an early tournament injury. France came close to repeating in 2022, but Argentina defeated Les Blues in a penalty shootout in Qatar to claim the trophy.
Nicolas Otamendi, Messi’s longtime defensive partner for Argentina, says the memory of that iconic Qatar win continues to fuel the team through this tournament. “What happened back in Qatar was just amazing. The whole country united,” Otamendi recalled. “We have that engraved in our minds, and it’s just injected us with the strength to keep trying. There’s no relaxing. We need to keep working with that level of humility that is required in these types of competitions.”
Otamendi added that Messi’s quiet competitiveness and dedication have set the tone for the entire squad. Describing Messi as a “simple man that just focuses on training,” Otamendi noted: “He’s also a competitive animal. You want to be there with him, supporting him, serving him, and laughing our hearts out all the time. As I’ve said, when the ball is rolling, that’s when you need to press, unite and come together as a family on the pitch.”