Argentina will face Peru in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 18 in their fourth South American qualifier for the FIFA Confederations Cup North America 2026.

The reigning world champions lead the South American qualifying campaign, which began last month, with three unbeaten matches.

They're on a roll and will look to build on that momentum against Peru. That's because their captain and ace, Messi, is feeling better.

"Messi is fine," Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said in his pre-match press conference on Sunday. "It's just a matter of playing time, but there's no problem with him playing. If Messi is in good shape, he should play against Peru."

Argentine journalist Gaston Edul of TYC Sports wrote on social media, "Messi's condition is improving. He is ready to play more than 40 minutes in the upcoming game."

Messi suffered a leg muscle injury in a match against Inter on March 21. After spending the next two weeks recovering, Messi returned to action as a substitute in his club's match on August 8.

However, he is not yet fully fit. In the third game against Paraguay on Sept. 13, Messi came on as a second-half substitute and played about 40 minutes.

After the game, Messi said, "I was scared because I wasn't fully fit. I've been out of the game for a while, but I'm going to keep training so that I can continue to play," he said.

Luckily, Messi has been resting and training since the Paraguay game.

Scaloni also plans on not pushing Messi too hard depending on his condition. "Against Paraguay, we proved that the other players can do well enough before Messi comes on," he said. It's important for the team to play consistently, regardless of the presence of certain players," he said, adding that he was pleased with the performances of other players besides Messi. 카지노사이트존