Lionel Messi and Argentina train ahead of World Cup warmup
Lionel Messi joined Argentina training on Monday as they prepare to play United Arab Emirates in a friendly on Wednesday ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.
Lionel Messi was on a plane headed for Abu Dhabi to join the Argentina squad ahead of the World Cup just after his last match with Paris Saint-Germain. The World Cup friendly warmups begin today, Tuesday, November 15 and the Argentina squad has begun their training.
Messi nearly gave everyone a heart attack when he jokingly grabbed the back of his leg as if he had an injury.
Thankfully, it only lasted a second before he laughed it off with his teammate Rodrigo De Paul. Not funny, Messi!
Argentina will play the United Arab Emirates in a World Cup warmup match on Wednesday at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi at 10:30 am Eastern Time.
After the friendly, Argentina will move on to the group stage opener against Saudi Arabia on November 22. The tougher games will come later, when they close out their Group C fixtures against Mexico on November 26 and Poland on November 30.
World Cup warm-up matches fixtures (all times listed in Eastern)
- Nov 15: Senegal vs Kazakhastan – (UAE)
- Nov 16: UAE vs Argentina – 10:30 am (Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, UAE)
- Nov 16: Oman vs Germany – 12 pm (Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Oman)
- Nov 16: Iran vs Tunisia – 6 am (Doha)
- Nov 16: Saudi Arabia vs Croatia – 5am (Mrsool Park, Riyadh)
- Nov 16: Poland vs Chile – 12 am (Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw)
- Nov 17: Mexico vs Sweden – 2:30 pm (Estadi Montilivi, Girona)
- Nov 17: Canada vs Japan – 8:40 am(Al Maktoum Stadium, UAE)
- Nov 17: Jordan vs Spain – 11 am (Amman International Stadium, Amman)
- Nov 17: Iraq vs Costa Rica – 9 am (Basra International Stadium, Basra)
- Nov 17: Morocco vs Georgia – 11 am (Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah)
- Nov 17: Switzerland vs Ghana – 5 am (Baniyas Stadium, Abu Dhabi)
- Nov 18: Cameroon vs Panama – 5 am (Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi)
- Nov 18: Portugal vs Nigeria – 1:45 pm (Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon)
- Nov 18: Egypt vs Belgium – 10 am (Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, Kuwait City)
- Nov 18: Bahrain vs Serbia – 11 am (Barain National Stadium, Riffa)