The great soccer star, Lionel Messi, reappeared on Tuesday in the friendly that Argentina won against Iceland and is fit to participate in the World Cup of all excesses that will begin this Thursday in Mexico, marked by international tensions.
In 96 years of history, three countries (Mexico, the United States and Canada) have never organized the World Cup.
And also for the first time, the tournament will have 48 participating countries and a total of 104 matches in almost a month and a half of competition, an XXL version that lives up to FIFA’s dreams of greatness.
goal and records
Since Messi was injured in a match with Inter Miami, Argentine fans have been in a state of despair for three weeks, hoping that their great captain could arrive in time to lead the reconquest operation: retain the title won four years ago in Qatar.
It was only 20 minutes in the friendly against Iceland with which Argentina put an end to its preparation, but Messi responded: he scored a penalty goal and participated in the third, scored by Thiago Almada. Valetín Barco opened the scoring (3-0).
With this in his 199th international match, the star reached 117 goals for the Albiceleste, of which he is the all-time top scorer.
He also became their oldest scorer, at 38 years, 11 months and 18 days, and surpassed the mark of Ángel Labruna, who scored his last goal in 1957, at 38 years, 9 months and 8 days.
Starting on June 16 against Algeria, Messi will have the opportunity to play in his sixth World Cup, a record that he will share with two other footballers, the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and the Mexican Guillermo Ochoa, who will also reach that number in North America.
an armored aztec
By then, five days of the tournament will have been completed, which will start this Thursday at the Azteca stadium in Mexico.
It will be the third time that the legendary venue in the Mexican capital hosts a World Cup opening ceremony, which will give even more mysticism to a field that experienced unforgettable chapters with stars such as Pelé, Maradona and Franz Beckenbauer.
The previous days have been marked by massive protests by Mexican teachers.
Thousands of them paraded on Tuesday demanding better salaries, but they did not achieve their goal of reaching the Azteca due to the action of the police deployed around the venue.
Teachers are calling for new protests on Thursday, coinciding with the opening match between Mexico and South Africa, which could make access to the stadium even more complicated.
geopolitical tensions
Tensions are also not easing between the United States and Iran, which launched cross-border attacks on Wednesday amid the war in the Middle East.
The Iranian team is concentrated in Tijuana, northern Mexico, but its three matches in the first phase will be played on US soil and it is not certain that the entire Iranian delegation will be able to enter the country.
“No player or coach has been denied entry. There have been some officials who have been denied, and for very good reasons,” the head of the White House Task Force for the 2026 World Cup, Andrew Giuliani, declared on Tuesday.
“There are some people who claim to be trainers and may not be,” this official warned, pointing to people in the Iranian delegation who, supposedly, have ties to the Revolutionary Guards, the country’s ideological army.
The first victim of this international context already has a name: the Somali Omar Abdulkadir Artan.
The best African referee was denied entry to the United States last Saturday “for being suspected of having links to alleged members of terrorist organizations,” a State Department spokesperson told AFP on Tuesday.
“I will be in the next World Cup (in 2030) and I will continue to make Somalia proud,” Artan declared this Wednesday upon his arrival at the Mogadishu airport, where he was received with cheers and flags by a hundred fans.
“Despite what has happened to me, I am not unmotivated,” he said.
Somalia is one of numerous countries whose citizens are affected by a travel ban to the United States imposed by the Donald Trump administration.
infantino’s explanations
On the eve of the inauguration, FIFA president Gianni Infantino is scheduled to make a press appearance this Wednesday in Mexico.
In it he will have to face these issues that are overshadowing the preparation of the tournament and other controversies that have arisen in recent weeks, such as the very high price of tickets to watch the games in the stadiums.
