Lionel Messi has not decided his future with the Argentina national team, despite reaching the age of 39, after leading the "Tango dancers" to the World Cup runners-up spot in a tournament in which he delivered an outstanding performance and scored 8 goals.
According to the Spanish newspaper "Marca", every possibility remains open over Messi's future with Argentina in the coming months and years. The Argentine star has not yet confirmed whether he will carry on at international level.
Argentina want Messi to keep wearing the Tango shirt for the foreseeable future, "Marca" report, though nothing has been settled either way. His next big challenge would be the 2028 Copa América.
At 39, retirement from international football after the World Cup might seem the obvious call. Yet that bitter runners-up feeling could shift his thinking, or it might not, especially as he already leaned towards staying on. The coming days and months will prove decisive.
Messi always makes one logical point about this stage of his life: he takes it year by year according to his physical condition.
Right now he looks in fine shape, as he proved throughout the World Cup. Nobody knows where he will be in a year's time. Perhaps Messi himself doesn't either.
The next major title on the horizon is the 2028 Copa América, most likely staged in the United States. Two years separate us from the tournament, the same span left on Messi's contract with Inter Miami.
September, October and November bring 6 friendlies under Lionel Scaloni, who stays at the head of the technical staff. After that the "Tango dancers" turn their attention to the 2030 World Cup qualifiers, a competition for which they have already booked their place.
Those qualifiers will be "different". Argentina have secured qualification alongside Paraguay and Uruguay, symbolic co-hosts of the 2030 World Cup, so they will not have to fight for points.
CONMEBOL may dream up a new tournament along the lines of the Nations League to hand those three nations extra incentive. And then comes the real question: will Messi take part or not?