Lionel Messi enters World Cup as Argentina plays Saudi Arabia

On a 36-match unbeaten run, Argentina opens the group stage Tuesday against Saudi Arabia — the second lowest-ranked team at the tournament.

It seems like an ideal chance for Messi to push his international goals tally toward a century — he currently has 91 — in what’s surely a forlorn attempt to catch the leading men’s mark of 117, owned by great rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

How Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni treats Messi for this game in particular, being staged in the 80,000-seat Lusail Iconic Stadium, might be instructive given the captain’s fitness has been managed heading into the World



Cup.

Messi trained individually on Friday and Saturday because of what the Argentine soccer federation described as “muscle overload.” That raised doubts about whether Messi will play the full 90 minutes against Saudi Arabia, but he played them down when making a rare appearance at a news conference, saying Monday he was “very well physically, in good condition.”

“No issues whatsoever,” said Messi, who was pictured at practice with extra padding on the inside of his right ankle. “I heard there were rumors of having to miss part of training or be away from the team because of a blow, but it's nothing out of the ordinary.”