Is Lionel Messi Playing Today? Argentina Star Won’t Start In World Cup Showdown vs. Jordan

Lionel Messi might not get a chance to extend his FIFA World Cup goals record when Argentina takes on Jordan in its final match of Group J play. The superstar forward won’t star in Argentina’s match against Jordan on Saturday (10 p.m. ET on FOX, the FOX Sports app and FOX One), coach Lionel Scaloni announced. The decision not to start Messi came after the Argentina icon scored five goals in La Albiceleste’s first two matches. In Argentina’s opening match, Messi scored his first career hat trick at the World Cup in its 3-0 win over Algeria. He followed that up with a two-goal performance in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria on Monday, breaking the FIFA World Cup’s all-time goals record with 18. With those two victories, Argentina has already secured first place in Group J. So, Argentina technically has nothing to play for in Saturday’s match. If Messi winds up sitting on the bench for the entirety of Saturday’s match, he’ll have 10 days of rest prior to Argentina’s round of 32 match. Argentina will play Cape Verde on Friday, July 3 (6 p.m. ET on FOX, the FOX Sports app and FOX One). If Argentina wins that match, it’ll play in the round of 16 just four days later on July 7. Argentina’s decision to bench Messi for Saturday’s game won’t have any implications on the bracket, either. Jordan has been eliminated from advancing to the knockout stage, with Algeria and Austria each battling for second place in the group. As Messi already has five goals, he’s the current favorite to win the Golden Boot for the tournament. However, four players are only one goal behind him for first place, and France star Kylian Mbappé is two goals shy of Messi’s record. Mbappé didn’t score in France’s 4-1 win over Norway on Friday, though.