"We don’t want him to leave the national team, we want him to play next World Cup" - Argentine midfielder, Mac Allister

Lionel Messi is being pushed by his Argentina teammates to play in another World Cup for Argentina, according to Brighton star Alexis Mac Allister.

Mac Allister happens to feature in the Albiceleste squad that won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. 

Messi decided against retiring from international competition after Qatar hosted the 2022 World Cup.

Prior to the following competition, which is slated to take place in 2026 in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, Mac Allister revealed that they want Messi to remain.

The Brighton midfielder said: “We don’t want him to leave the national team. He said he was going to be his last World Cup but we don’t want that. We want him to stay with us. He knows it. So let’s see what happens. He sent a message to us yesterday, wishing us a very good year. He was very grateful to us. After the game we couldn’t speak too much because we wanted to celebrate. I think we still don’t realise what we achieved, but in the next five or 10 years we will.”