Messi Trains Separately as Argentina Prepares for World Cup

Lionel Messi stepped onto the grass in Kansas City on Monday, but not with the rest of Argentina’s squad.

While the defending World Cup champions opened their first full training session at their U.S. base camp, the captain worked separately, going through a tailored routine as the coaching and medical staff manage his fitness with just days to go before the tournament.

The 38-year-old has been nursing muscle fatigue in his left hamstring since May 24, a concern that would rattle most national teams. Argentina are treating it as something to control, not to panic over. The expectation inside the camp is clear: Messi is on course to start their World Cup opener against Algeria on June 16, also in Kansas City.

On the adjacent pitch, the main group went through the standard first-day drills of a major tournament camp. Messi and a cluster of teammates stayed slightly apart, under the close watch of the physio team, moving through what the federation described as “specific exercises” designed to protect and strengthen vulnerable areas.

“The players who are suffering from niggles and injuries continue to work with the physiotherapy team on specific exercises on the pitch and are making good progress,” Argentina’s Football Association said in a statement, a nod to the quiet injury-management operation running alongside the usual tactical work.

This is a squad used to carrying the weight of expectation. Ranked number three in the world, Argentina have settled into their American base with a clear schedule: sharpen fitness, tune details, avoid setbacks. Their final warm-up comes against Iceland on June 9 in Auburn, Alabama, the last dress rehearsal before the real thing begins.

For Messi, this camp carries an extra layer of history. The Inter Miami star, twice named MLS MVP and an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, is heading into a record sixth World Cup. No Argentine has worn the shirt more: 198 caps, 116 goals since his debut in 2005. Every step he takes in training is measured against that legacy.

So he trains apart, for now. Not as an outsider, but as the player Argentina can least afford to lose, being carefully readied for one more run at the game’s biggest prize.