Messi is away from the Argentina friendlies.

Due to a hamstring injury, Lionel Messi will not be playing for Argentina in their next friendlies in the United States, the Argentina Football Association announced on Monday.

The superstar from Inter Miami was scheduled to start for the world champions in a friendly match against El Salvador on Friday in Philadelphia, followed by a match against Costa Rica on March 26 in Los Angeles.

The 36-year-old Argentine captain, though, has not fully healed from a hamstring strain sustained during Miami’s CONCACAF Champions Cup triumph against Nashville last week, 3-1.

Messi did not play in Miami’s victory over D.C. United in Washington on Saturday. Messi was replaced shortly after halftime in the victory over Nashville.

The Argentine federation posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Lionel Messi, the captain of his country, would not be able to go with the group for the friendlies in the United States because of a slight injury to his right leg’s hamstring sustained during his team’s match against Nashville SC.

Following his team’s victory over Washington on Saturday, Miami coach Gerardo Martino made a suggestion that Messi might miss the March internationals in order to make sure he would be healthy for the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals the following month.

“It is evident that his goal is to compete in the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals. Martino declared, “We’re not going to take any chances.”