If he does not play for Argentina, Messi is eligible to play for two EURO championship teams

The question “Why doesn’t Lionel Messi play at EURO” may seem silly at first to football fans. Four Four Two magazine published an article with that title a few weeks ago. The obvious reason is that Messi has Argentine nationality and plays for the South American team.

However, many fans also question whether Messi would be able to attend EURO if he did not play for Argentina. The answer is yes.

Lionel Messi is currently playing for Argentina at Copa America 2024. The 37-year-old star won the Copa America 2021 and then won the World Cup 2022. However, if Messi does not choose to play for the tango team, his career will take a different direction.

Messi is eligible to play for Spain and Italy.

While EURO 2024 is taking place, The Sun newspaper recently reiterated that Messi could play for Spain instead of Argentina. Messi signed for Barcelona at the age of 13 and lived in Spain for 5 years before making his debut for Argentina.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) once tried to convince Messi to play for the Spanish football team. Messi is eligible to play for Spain because his great-grandfather was born in the Catalonia region. Messi also has relatives who lived in Spain when he first arrived in Barcelona.

Coach Vicente del Bosque once revealed that the Spanish Football Federation tried to persuade Messi to play for his national team.

“ The Spanish Football Federation has made every effort to invite Messi to play for Spain. However, Messi refused because he loves his country. Messi’s appearance in the Spain shirt would be the greatest thing for me. Messi is unique. Coaching Messi is a dream for me ,” coach Del Bosque said in 2019.

In addition, Messi is also eligible to play for the Italian team. Messi’s great-grandfather left Italy for the Argentine city, Rosario (where Messi was born) in 1883. When Messi won the 2022 World Cup with Argentina, Mario Fadda, a sports historian, revealed something interesting. in the Italian press. He said Messi is originally from Cagliari (Italy).

“Lionel Messi and Cagliari may seem to have nothing in common, but the twists and turns of history often contain unexpected implications. Messi has fulfilled his life’s dream of winning the World Cup, bringing Argentina its third world championship title.

In Italy, many people also celebrated this championship because the relationship between the two countries is in fact very strong. And among the many Italians who migrated to Argentina was Angelo Messi, Messi’s great-grandfather who left in 1883 ,” Mario Fadda revealed.

Mario Fadda also said that there is another Messi who was born in Italy and also plays football: ” Angelo Messi’s brother Giovanni is still in Italy and later, another Angelo Messi was born in the Bergamo area, Ponte San Pietro in July /1922. Angelo soon proved himself to be a talented footballer and played as a right winger for local team, Pro Ponte.”

Currently, there is no information saying that the Italian Football Federation has convinced Messi to play for the blue shirt team.