Lionel Messi has confirmed that he will not play another World Cup following Argentina’s triumph at the last World Cup in Qatar.

“I have said several times before that I don’t think so, that that (2022) was my last World Cup,” he said when asked by China’s Titan Sports in a video interview if he might feature at the 2026 tournament in North America.

“I will see how things go but in theory I don’t think I will be around for the next World Cup,” he added in Spanish in the video published on the app Kuaishou.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is currently in Beijing, where Argentina will play a friendly match against Australia on Thursday.

This is after he told an Argentine newspaper earlier this year that it would be “very hard” for him to play in another World Cup.

During the next tournament, he will turn 39.

Messi said last week that he would be joining MLS team Inter Miami when his two-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain ended.

Argentina will play a friendly against Australia on Thursday at the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing, which can hold up to 68,000 people.

The game is a rematch of the last-16 match between these two teams at the World Cup in Doha, which Argentina won 2-1.

Fans in China are eager to see the former Barcelona star play, so even though tickets cost up to 6,711 Yuan (4,800 Yuan), they sold out quickly.

Photo by EPA/Juan Ignacio RoncoroniEPA/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni