Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni is confident there will be Lionel Messi jerseys in the home section despite the Paraguayan Football Association’s (APF) ban on rival shirts ahead of Thursday’s South American World Cup 2026 qualifier.

Argentina will play Paraguay at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asuncion on Thursday, and APF manager Fernando Villasboa warned the home crowd to wear only Paraguayan shirts as no jerseys from Argentina, Argentine clubs or clubs that contain the names of players from other countries will be allowed.

“We won’t allow the other team’s shirt. It’s not a problem against Messi. We respect the careers of all footballers. It’s just that the home ground is very important to us,” Villasboa told local press on Wednesday.

Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro said: “I have nothing to do with the t-shirt ban. I had no idea about that. I think the idea is to reduce the margin of a possible source of conflict.”

“Messi is our rival tomorrow, I wish him the best game of his life against Peru, but not tomorrow,” he added.

However, Scaloni said the global impact of Argentina’s number 10, the country’s all-time leading scorer and World Cup winner, is far greater.

“Logically, for the Paraguayan footballer, for the fan, they all want to wear the national team shirt. But Leo (Messi) is stronger than all that and there will be Argentina shirts,” Scaloni told a news conference on Wednesday.

“It doesn’t mean they don’t support Paraguay. I think it’s good that football people recognise what he is. And it’s not because you have a shirt that you become an Argentina fan.

Argentina sit atop the South American standings on 22 points, three clear of Colombia. After the Paraguay match, they will host Peru on Nov. 19.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has congratulated Donald Trump ahead of his return as US President.

The 2026 World Cup will be hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This marks a return to North America for the first time since 1994.

Infantino met Trump multiple times during his first presidency to discuss the World Cup, as well as talking about opening FIFA headquarters in the USA – which they did in 2023. 

‘Congratulations Mr President!’ Infantino wrote on Instagram on Wednesday morning.

‘We will have a great FIFA World Cup and a great FIFA Club World Cup in the United States of America! Football Unites the World!’

The 2026 World Cup will be groundbreaking for a new format which has provoked much discussion. 

There will be a massive expansion and revamp to the tournament, with 48 teams (up from 32) – the three host nations and 45 qualifiers – playing 104 matches (up from 64), significant increases of around 50 per cent.

That growth means a longer tournament and more and earlier/later matches every day in the US, Canada and Mexico.

The first four tournaments in 1930, 1934, 1938 and 1950 had between 13 and 16 countries competing, rising to 16 from 1954, 24 for Spain 1982 and 32 for France 1998, where it has remained since.

FIFA president Infantino was elected on a pledge to create a 40-team World Cup.

He insisted the £825million extra income and £530m extra profit this move is expected to create will trickle down to grassroots football, rather than lining the pockets of the fat cats at the very top. 

‘Increasing the size of teams which can participate will increase the investment in football development, to make sure that the teams can qualify,’ he said. 

The Trump administration promised back in 2018 that there would be no discrimination against fans from any country wanting to visit the World Cup.

His own level of engagement with football or ‘soccer’ is unknown, but he did, rather bewilderingly, help in the Carabao Cup draw in 1991 on the Saint & Greavsie show. 

There will be 12 groups of four teams. That necessitates a massive number of extra games (104), rather than the 80 there would have been with 16 groups of three.

The European Club Association did not support the move because of fears of the effect a significantly bigger and longer tournament would have on squeezing domestic fixtures for clubs.

The 2026 tournament is set to continue for 39 days, a week more than in 2010, 2014 and 2018 and 10 days more than in Qatar, which will squeeze domestic campaigns.  In 2018, countries had 25 days between the end of the domestic season to prepare for the start of the tournament. For 2026, that period is just 16 days.

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Politics and sports have become inseparable, especially at major international sports events. So, it has come to be. Donald Trump whose government in 2018 spearheaded the ‘United’ bid of the US, Canada and Mexico for the 2026 World Cup hosting will be in power when the event kicks off.

It was a remote thought that Trump would occupy the White House in 2026 when the US spearheaded the World Cup bid. His presidency, in worst-case scenario, was expected to end this year if he had secured a second term in 2020.

He lost the return which he has now reclaimed after the defeat of Kamala Harris. As it has turned out, Trump triumphed in instances he contested against women.

First, it was Hillary Clinton in 2016 and now Kamala Harris in 2024. And so, the hope for the first American woman president is further delayed. 

Trum will cap his presidency with the hosting of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.