Messi’s final stand at this World Cup arrives Saturday against a Switzerland side that believes it has found real cracks in the defending champions’ armor. Argentina has survived two knockout scares to reach the quarterfinals, and with Lionel Messi, 39, now potentially playing out the closing matches of his international career, coach Lionel Scaloni’s approach to training this week has been less about reinvention and more about trusting what’s already working.
According to Argentina insider Gaston Edul of TyC Sports, Scaloni is expected to make minimal changes to the lineup that started against Egypt, and Thursday’s training session skipped the full practice match Scaloni typically runs at this stage of a tournament, a signal that wholesale changes aren’t coming.
Two selection battles remain open heading into Friday’s final session: Nahuel Molina and Gonzalo Montiel are both competing for the right-back spot, with neither fully convincing so far, while Nicolas Tagliafico and Facundo Medina are contesting the left-back role. Montiel’s substitute appearance against Egypt was notable regardless of the outcome — he came on with Argentina down 2-0, then helped set up Messi’s equalizer while playing further forward as an auxiliary striker.
The other open question is whether Nicolas Gonzalez forces his way into the midfield picture after his substitute appearance against Egypt injected pace that had been missing for most of that match. Argentina otherwise enters the quarterfinal with a fully healthy 26-man roster, giving Scaloni options most rivals at this stage of the tournament don’t have.
Whatever tactical tweaks Scaloni makes, Messi’s final stand narrative centers on a player still delivering when it matters most. He leads the tournament’s Golden Boot race with eight goals, has scored in six consecutive competitive internationals, and set up Argentina’s equalizer against Egypt just over four minutes before scoring the goal himself. His overall World Cup goal tally now sits at 21, extending his own all-time record.
Argentina has needed him at every turn in the knockout rounds — a 3-2 extra-time win over Cape Verde and the 3-2 comeback over Egypt were both salvaged in large part by his individual quality, even as the team’s overall form has looked shakier than the side that won it all in Qatar.
That vulnerability hasn’t been lost on Switzerland. Argentina’s flat midfield has struggled to cover the width of the pitch in the knockout rounds, and both Cape Verde and Egypt exploited space down the flanks with direct running from wide areas.
Switzerland coach Murat Yakin has been running what’s been described as unusual training sessions this week, deliberately preparing his squad for multiple different scenarios Argentina could throw at them on Saturday. Yakin has been studying Argentina’s recent matches closely and told reporters this week that recent performances suggested the world champions were vulnerable, and that he believed his team was capable of stopping them.
It’s a confidence built on more than words — Switzerland has never trailed at any point in this entire World Cup campaign, including qualifiers, and ground out a penalty shootout win over Colombia after a scoreless 120 minutes in the Round of 16.
Switzerland’s biggest concern of their own is the fitness of 20-year-old forward Johan Manzambi, who missed the Colombia match with a knee injury sustained in training and is a doubt to return in time. If fit, his direct running and pace would give Switzerland the ideal profile of player to exploit the exact wide spaces that have troubled Argentina all tournament. Luca Jaquez and Michel Aebischer remain sidelined and are training individually rather than with the full squad.
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A win sends Argentina to the semifinals to defend the title they won in 2022, extending their unbeaten World Cup run to 11 matches since that triumph. For Switzerland, it’s a chance to reach a first-ever World Cup semifinal and end what could be the final international match of Messi’s career, a storyline not lost on former Swiss international Raphael Wicky, whose current club, Sporting Kansas City, is hosting Argentina’s training base for the tournament.
The match kicks off Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. For full confirmed lineups and live updates as kickoff approaches, ESPN’s match preview tracks both squads’ injury news, while Goal.com’s full preview breaks down the tactical matchup in more depth.
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