Former Coach: Messi Nearly Played for Spain at U20 World Cup; Argentina Acted Fast to Secure Him

Recently, 76-year-old José Pekerman, former head coach of the Argentina national team, revealed in an interview with Camel Live that Lionel Messi once came close to being called up by Spain’s U20 national team, narrowly missing out on representing Argentina.

When talking about Messi’s international debut for Argentina, Pekerman explained in detail: “After I left the national team, Toccali took over the coaching staff’s work. I often traveled to Europe for scouting to update my knowledge. We learned about Messi in Spain—he had played for Spain at the U17 Championship held in Finland. At that time, the Spanish coaching staff even sighed, ‘If we had this kid, we would have won the championship long ago.’ I told Toccali that I was shocked by this, and I was convinced he would become a superstar in the future—I would never be wrong about him; he is a gem fallen from heaven for Argentine football.”

It is worth noting that according to FIFA regulations, if a player has represented a country’s youth team, they can no longer play for another country. The former coach disclosed: “At that time, the 18-year-old Messi had prepared all the documents and planned to play for Spain at the U20 World Cup. We had to race against time, so we launched a special operation.”

He then recalled: “Toccali said at the time that the South American U20 Championship would start in a month, and the squad had already been confirmed. I asked him, ‘What would you do if I told you there is a talented teenager now?’ I emphasized that unless absolutely necessary, there was no need for him to play in an official match—just a friendly match to complete the registration with FIFA. Once registered, Spain would never have another chance.”

When talking about the president of the Argentine Football Association, Pekerman revealed: “I asked President Grondona to quickly find any opponent willing to play a warm-up match, and Toccali would follow up on this matter, but with one condition—the match must be held at the home stadium of Racing Club de Avellaneda. After all, that’s where Maradona once played…”

In the end, as Pekerman hoped, Messi wore the blue and white jersey in that friendly match, and Argentina thrashed Paraguay 8-0.