Why Lionel Messi Isn’t Playing for Argentina at 2024 Paris Olympics

The Olympics football tournament kicked off in dramatic fashion on Wednesday (July 24). A total of eight matches took place but the one that everybody is talking about is Argentina’s defeat by Morocco.

Trailing 2-1, Argentina thought that they had scored an equaliser in the 106th minute. That goal prompted a mass pitch invasion, which led to the suspension of the match, before the stadium was cleared and the match was finished behind closed doors, with the resumption taking place over an hour later. Cristian Medina’s strike was then ruled out for offside following a VAR intervention and Morocco won the game 2-1.

Squad Rules at the Olympics

Only three over-23 players permitted

Although the Olympics is the pinnacle of their sport for a lot of athletes, that is not the case when it comes to football. Argentina may have several World Cup winners in their squad for the Games, including Nicolas Otamendi and Julian Alvarez, but the majority of their stars were not actually eligible to be included.

Football teams at the Olympics are largely made up of under-23 players, with each squad permitted three players who are not subjected to age restrictions. For Argentina, these players are Otamendi, Alvarez, and goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.

Lionel Messi may at times appear ageless, but he is 37 years old and is not part of the Argentina squad that is gunning for gold in France this summer. Messi’s former Argentina and Barcelona teammate, Javier Mascherano, is the manager of Argentina’s Olympics team and asked Messi if he would play in the tournament.

Messi Explained his Decision

‘I’m not at an age to be in everything’

Messi, who claimed a gold medal alongside Mascherano at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, explained his decision to reject an invite to compete at the 2024 edition of the Games. Speaking in June, he said: “I talked to Mascherano and the truth is we both understood the situation. It’s hard [to think about the Olympics right now] because we’re in Copa America. It would be two, three straight months of not being with the club, and more than anything I’m not at an age to be in everything.

“I have to choose carefully, and it would be too much to play two straight tournaments. I’ve been very lucky to play in the Olympics, of winning it together with Masche. It was a wonderful experience on a football level. Olympics, U20, memories I’ll never forget. It’s spectacular to be fortunate enough to go through all that. I hope that the guys who get to go enjoy it in the same way that I did because it’s special. The Olympics are special, different from anything else.”

Messi sustained ankle ligament damage in the final of the Copa America, and was pictured wearing a protective boot during a family holiday after the tournament, meaning that even if he had committed to playing at the Olympics, injury would have prevented him from doing so.

For a long while, Olympic gold was the only triumph Messi had experienced at international level, but the Barcelona legend has filled his boots in the last few years, winning the Copa America twice, in 2021 and 2024, as well as the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.