World Cup
Messi back as 2026 World Cup qualifiers kick off
After a dazzling start to his career in Major League Soccer, Lionel Messi returns to international duty with Argentina this week as South America’s long qualifying road to the 2026 World Cup kicks off on Thursday.
Nine months ago, Messi crowned his glittering career by leading Argentina to a World Cup crown in Qatar cementing his status as the greatest player of his generation.
Since that magical night in Doha, the diminutive 36-year-old superstar’s life has gone through a period of upheaval.
After an acrimonious end to his career with Paris Saint-Germain, Messi was courted by Saudi Arabia before ultimately deciding to forge a new chapter of his career with Inter Miami.
That move has proven to be an inspired decision, with Messi and his family settling in Florida seamlessly while enjoying success on the field, leading Inter to their first silverware and into the US Open Cup final.
Inter coach Gerard “Tata” Martino, the former Argentina and Barcelona player, says Messi has been “liberated” by finally leading Argentina to the World Cup last year after several agonising major championship near-misses.
But the question hanging in the air as South America’s qualifying campaign gets under way this week, is whether Messi will be around when Argentina aim to defend their title in 2026, when the tournament is co-hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Messi appeared to pour cold water on that prospect in comments made in June, saying he did not expect to play in the 2026 finals.
However he later admitted in an interview in July he had no clear idea of when he plans to call time on his international career.
“Even I don’t know when. It’ll happen when it happens,” Messi told Argentine media.
“After winning everything I want to enjoy the moment and wait for time to tell me when it’s the moment.
“Logically, given my age, one would expect it to be soon, but I don’t know for sure.”
‘Door always open’
Argentina’s World Cup-winning manager Lionel Scaloni is certainly in no mood to force the issue.
Scaloni is on record as saying that a place in the 2026 squad will be Messi’s for the asking if he chooses.
“I think Messi can get to the next World Cup,” Scaloni said in January.
“It will depend a lot on what he wants, on whether he feels good.
“The door will always be open. He is happy on the pitch and it would be very nice for us.”
While the questions may continue to swirl around Messi’s future in future, there is less uncertainty about Argentina’s prospects for qualification for the World Cup.
The expanded 48-team finals in 2026 mean that six of the 10 teams competing in South American qualifying, which will be completed in September 2025, will qualify automatically for the finals. The seventh place team will advance to a playoff.
Given Argentina’s strength, it would take an upset of mammoth proportions for them to fail to qualify automatically for 2026.
Messi and Argentina’s qualifying journey gets under way with a home fixture against Ecuador at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires on Thursday, before the team face Bolivia in La Paz next Tuesday.
Other games on Thursday see Paraguay take on Peru, while Colombia host Venezuela.
Friday sees two more fixtures, with Uruguay playing Chile in Montevideo while five-time World Cup winners Brazil make their entrance against Bolivia in Belem.
Brazil enter qualifying in a state of flux, with a new manager in Fernando Diniz, who took over from predecessor Tite in the wake of the Selecao’s World Cup quarter-final exit to Croatia last year.
Whether Diniz will be in charge when Brazil arrive at the finals though is anyone’s guess, with the South Americans long believed to be targeting Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti to lead the team to the finals.
Brazil’s preparations for qualifying have also been disrupted by controversy around Manchester United winger Antony, who was dropped from the squad this week after revelations of assault made by an ex-girlfriend.
Antony, who denies the claims, has been replaced by Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus.
-AFP
With just a year to go until the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in the United States, concerns are mounting over the impact of extreme summer heat on players and fans.
According to experts interviewed by the BBC, FIFA may be forced to adjust match schedules drastically—possibly even staging the World Cup final as early as 9 a.m.—to mitigate the risks posed by soaring temperatures.
The warnings follow sweltering conditions witnessed during recent international and Club World Cup matches held in the U.S., where athletes and spectators alike were exposed to intense heat and humidity.
One of the leading voices raising the alarm is Professor Mike Tipton, an expert in thermal physiology at the University of Portsmouth. Speaking to BBC Sport, he emphasised the potential health risks of playing in extreme conditions and recommended that matches begin as early in the day as possible.
“From a thermo-physiological point of view, for health and performance reasons, I would look to start matches as early as possible,” Tipton stated, suggesting that even the final—traditionally held in the afternoon or evening—could be moved to a morning kickoff.
Tipton went further, noting that the ideal solution would be to host the tournament during a cooler time of year, as was done with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was shifted to November and December due to extreme heat.
However, with the 2026 tournament already locked in for June 11 to July 19, FIFA’s only remaining flexibility lies in scheduling match times.
The 2026 edition will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico across multiple cities, some of which are known for intense summer heat.
Health experts are urging organisers to prioritise player safety and fan well-being, warning that failing to act could lead to performance issues, heat-related illnesses, or worse.
FIFA has yet to publicly comment on any proposed changes to match schedules, but as temperatures continue to rise, pressure is mounting for the governing body to take decisive action ahead of football’s biggest tournament.
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FIFA’s Global Football Development chief Arsene Wenger acknowledged that the quality of pitches hosting Club World Cup matches in the U.S. was not good enough, but insisted it would be better when the country co-hosts the 2026 World Cup.
The pitches, often very dry and sprinkled with water during cooling breaks or at halftime, have been widely criticised, mainly by coaches and players of the European teams taking part.
“I’ve been personally on the pitch at Orlando,” former Arsenal manager Wenger said on Saturday. “It’s not at the level that the European clubs are used to because it’s not perfect, but that will be rectified for the World Cup next year.”
Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique raised the issue early in the expanded Club World Cup tournament.
“The ball bounces like a rabbit,” Luis Enrique said after his team’s opening 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid.
“Today, for example, the field used to be artificial turf, and now it’s natural grass laid over it, which means it has to be watered manually. It’s a big problem for the way we play.”
“FIFA really needs to take this seriously. Not just the stadium fields but also the training pitches. If we’re calling this the best club tournament in the world, it should have world‑class facilities. I can’t imagine an NBA game played on a court full of holes.”
-Reuters
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Congo will be allowed to continue participating in the World Cup qualifiers despite missing two fixtures in March when they were banned, world football’s governing body FIFA said on Wednesday.
Congo were suspended from February to May because of government interference in the running of their football association (FECOFOOT) but the ban was lifted when officials returned to their positions and were handed back access to their headquarters and technical training centre.
Sports minister Hugues Ngouelondele had appointed an ad-hoc committee last year to run the association, claiming it needed to sort out disputes among association office bearers, but FIFA suspended FECOFOOT due to third-party interference, which violates its statutes.
During the ban, Congo were not allowed to participate in any international competition, which meant they did not honour 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Tanzania and Niger in March.
A FIFA spokesman told Reuters the points from those fixtures were forfeited and a 3-0 victory awarded to their opponents.
But they will continue in the qualifiers when they resume in September, even if they have no chance of qualifying.
Congo are scheduled to play Tanzania at home in September and conclude their fixtures in October with matches at Niger and Morocco.
Congo have no points in the group, which Morocco lead with 15 points, six more than Tanzania in second place.
The group winner qualifies for next year’s World Cup in North America while the runner-up has a possibility to participate in playoffs if they are among the four best second-placed teams in the nine African qualifying groups.
FIFA has taken a hard line on government interference in football matters with the likes of Chad, Kenya, Pakistan and Zimbabwe among those banned in recent years.
Congo were African champions in 1972 but have never been to a World Cup.
-Reuters
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