Lionel Messi.

Buenos Aires: Argentina captain Lionel Messi will miss his team’s World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia next month due to injury.

The 37-year-old was a glaring omission from the Albiceleste’s 28-man squad named on Monday as he continues to recover from an ankle ligament injury sustained during Argentina’s victory over Colombia in the Copa America final in July, reported Xinhua. Veteran River Plate goalkeeper Franco Armani was also left out, as was Roma forward Paulo Dybala.

Midfielder Ezequiel Fernandez and striker Valentin Castellanos were called up for the first time while young talents Alejandro Garnacho, Valentin Carboni, Valentin Barco and Matias Soule were also included.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record eight Ballon d’Or awards, a record six European Golden Shoes, and was named the world’s best player for a record eight times by FIFA. Messi is the most decorated player in the history of professional football, with 44 team trophies.

Until 2021, he had spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles, and the UEFA Champions League four times. Playing for Argentina’s national team, he won two Copa América titles and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals (474), hat-tricks (36), and assists (192) in La Liga, most appearances (39) and assists (18) in the Copa América. He has the most international goals (109) and appearances (187) by a South American male. Messi has scored over 800 senior career goals for club and country, and the most goals for a single club (672).

Argentina will meet Chile in Buenos Aires on Sept.5 and Colombia in Barranquilla five days later.

Agencies