Will Lionel Messi Play in Copa America 2024?

May 2, 2024 Copa America 2024 201 Views

Are you one of those who is wondering will Lionel Messi play in the Copa America 2024 competition? Will he play Copa America or the Paris Olympics this summer? There are a lot of questions as the player is now playing in a different league system, which also continues in June. Will his club coach allow him to play in this competition? Let’s talk.

Copa America was the first-ever trophy that Lionel Messi won with Argentina back in 2021 before winning the World Cup. At that time, he was playing in Barcelona which plays in La Liga.

Will MLS be paused for Copa America?

No, MLS is likely to continue league matches during Copa America. The current schedule of the MLS shows that the matches will continue to be played.

The last Copa America was held in Brazil in June and July. At that time, all the European competitions were ended and Messi was free to play in the Copa America 2021. But he is now playing in Major League Soccer and its current season started on 21 February and is still active.

A spokesperson of MLS said that the league expected the number of MLS players called to play in the tournament to be similar to or less than during the 2023 Gold Cup, which was also played during the MLS.

Will Messi play in Copa America 2024?

Yes, he will play the Copa America and defend the first title he won for Argentina. His club Gerardo Martino has already said that Messi can either play Copa America or the Olympics and it is expected that Messi will choose South American competition over the Olympic games.

Argentina’s head coach Lionel Scaloni stated that only Lionel Messi and Angel di Maria are guaranteed for the Copa America which also confirms his inclusion in the competition. Secondly, Copa America has a huge fan base over the Olympics (no disrespect to the Olympic Games) and fans would like to see him in the Continental tournament especially when they could face fierce rivals Brazil.

So yes, Messi will play in Copa America 2024.