LIONEL MESSI FANS

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni has confirmed that star player Lionel Messi is fit ahead of the blockbuster World Cup 2022 qualifying clash with Brazil. Argentina play hosts to the Brazilians with the hopes of getting a win that would take them closer to a place in Qatar at the end of next year and also close the gap on the visitors to three points on the South American standings ahead of the next edition of the tournament.

Lionel Messi has struggled for fitness over the past month and he was only named on the bench for the Uruguay game on Friday night. He played for the final fifteen (15) minutes as Argentina secured an impressive 1-0 away win over Uruguay in their last Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifier thanks to the early strike from Paris Saint Germain (PSG) attacker Angel Di Maria. The result from the Argentines against hosts Uruguay took their unbeaten run to 26 matches.

Scaloni told reporters in his pre-match presser for the Brazil clash that Messi is ready to take his place in the starting XI for the game scheduled to take place at the Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario in San Juan.

While star player Lionel Messi would be available for the Argentines, the same can’t be said about the Brazilians who would be without Neymar for the game. The Paris Saint Germain (PSG) star picked up an injury from the slim win over Colombia on Thursday night and has been ruled out of the mammoth encounter with arch rivals Argentina.

Ahead of the Argentina game, Brazil have an almost flawless record in the South American qualifiers, but their opponents can move within three points with a win. Brazil have 34 points from the maximum 36 points after a record of 11 wins and one draw. On their part, Argentina have 28 points with a record of eight wins and four draws.