‘Hope he doesn’t play!’ - MLS rival has already had enough of Lionel Messi & wants injury to keep him out of Argentina’s latest 2026 World Cup qualifier

The New York Red Bulls goalkeeper was beaten by seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi when lining up against Inter Miami in domestic competition back in August. Having picked the ball out of the back of his net once this season, Coronel is eager to avoid doing so again.

There is, however, a chance that his path will cross with Messi on Thursday in the latest round of 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America. Argentina are yet to decide whether their talismanic captain will figure in that contest, with an unfortunate injury have restricted his game time for Inter Miami of late.

Coronel has said of potentially facing Messi again: “Playing in Argentina, against the best national team in the world right now, is never going to be easy. I already played against Messi, so I hope he doesn’t play this game! I don’t know how he is [physically], but they’ve got other good players who can make a difference. Anything can happen, and we’re going to go there and do the best we can, looking for a positive result. That would be incredible for us.”

Argentina claimed back-to-back wins in their opening two games of World Cup qualification, leaving them top of the CONMEBOL table alongside arch-rivals Brazil, while Paraguay have just one point on the board.