Argentina captain Lionel Messi started on the bench against Jordan in the team's final Group J match as coach Lionel Scaloni rotated his squad ahead of the Round of 32. Scaloni said the decision was to manage the workload of key players. Argentina had already qualified after victories over Algeria and Austria and were set to face Cape Verde in the knockout stage.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi starts on the bench as the defending champions take on Jordan in their final Group J match at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington on Saturday night. Messi played majority of the minutes in both of Argentina's wins at the FIFA World Cup 2026. However, the 39-year-old did not feature in the starting XI in a heavily rotated side by head coach Lionel Scaloni.

"Leo will go to the bench. I'll hold off on the final starting line-up, but Leo will come in later," Scaloni told the reporters.

Why is Lionel Messi not playing?

Head coach Lionel Scaloni confirmed the decision before the match, saying the move was aimed at managing the workload of his first-choice players ahead of the knockout stage.