"Opponents are still afraid of him near the penalty area." That's Pablo Zabaleta on Lionel Messi in 2026 — and coming from someone who played alongside him 46 times for Argentina, it carries more weight than your average pundit's take.
The former Manchester City full-back, now assistant coach of Albania, has backed Argentina to defend their World Cup title in North America this summer. He named England and Portugal as the two sides worth watching closely, but stopped well short of calling them favourites.
Messi at 38 — still the difference-maker
The obvious question around Argentina is always the same: how much does Messi have left? Zabaleta's answer is nuanced. He doesn't pretend Messi is the same player he was at 30. He just argues it doesn't matter.
"His dribbling, his vision for the killer pass, his ability to cut inside and find the far post, his free kicks — only a player of his quality can create those moments." That's not sentiment. That's a tactical assessment from someone who trained with him for years.
And the numbers back it up. Messi has scored five goals in six matches for Inter Miami in 2026, averaging a goal every 108 minutes. He guided the club to their first-ever MLS Cup last December. He's not coasting toward a farewell tour — he's preparing for one last serious run at a second World Cup.
He's expected to feature against Mauritania in Buenos Aires on Friday, with Argentina's friendlies against Mauritania and Zambia on March 27 and 31 serving as fine-tuning before the tournament proper kicks off on June 11. Inter Miami have roughly ten more matches scheduled before then, with Javier Mascherano managing his minutes carefully.
England and Portugal in the conversation
Zabaleta flagged England — under Thomas Tuchel — as genuine contenders, pointing to their individual quality and improved structure. Portugal also got a mention, though without much elaboration. Both are reasonable picks; both are also the teams people have been calling dark horses for about a decade without delivering.
Argentina's World Cup odds will firm up considerably if Messi hits the tournament in the form he's been showing in MLS. The difference between an ageing icon and a tournament-defining player can come down to three or four moments across seven matches. Zabaleta's point is simple: Messi still creates those moments. Until someone proves otherwise, that's the bet.
"When I watched Messi lift the World Cup in Qatar," Zabaleta said, "people who weren't even Argentinian were willing Argentina to win, because of what he means to the game." Whether that goodwill translates in North America is a different question. But the footballing case for Argentina remains as strong as anyone's.
