Argentina's coach, Lionel Scaloni, was cautiously optimistic on Tuesday about Lionel Messi's condition ahead of the World Cup, saying that "the first news is not so bad" after the alarm this weekend following discomfort in the Albiceleste captain's left hamstring.

"Logically, we would prefer that nothing had happened to him. Now we have to wait and see how he develops and, above all, the new tests they will do on him, I imagine, to see if it's really as they say," Scaloni told DSports.

Messi, 38, asked to be substituted on Sunday during his last match in the North American league (MLS) before the World Cup, after clutching the back of his left thigh.

His club, Inter Miami, announced on Monday that the Argentine star was suffering from "overwork associated with muscle fatigue in the left hamstring" and that "his return to physical activity will depend on the evolution of his clinical and functional condition."

Inter Miami coach Guillermo Hoyos said after Sunday's game that Messi "was really tired (...) the pitch was heavy and, when in doubt, the normal approach is always to make sure that you don't take any risks."

"We were watching the match here, in our offices (at the Federation) and we saw that he had asked to be substituted, and that suited us just fine," added Lionel Scaloni.

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has carefully managed his workload since arriving in MLS at Inter Miami in 2023, with the staff regularly exempting him from matches during particularly busy calendar periods.

He has made several trips to the infirmary in recent years due to hamstring problems, which forced him to miss part of Miami's preparation earlier in 2026.

The 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, will start on June 11 and run until July 19.

Argentina, in Group J with Algeria, Jordan and Austria, will defend their crown won in 2022 in Qatar starting on June 16.

If he were to be included in the final list that Scaloni is to announce, Messi would take part in his sixth World Cup, a record he would share with, among others, the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo.