Argentina captain Lionel Messi has confirmed he will play his final World Cup in Qatar.

“Is it my last World Cup? Yes, surely yes, surely yes,” Messi told Star+. “I am counting down the days to the World Cup. There is a bit of anxiety and nerves at the same time. Wanting it to be now and the nerves that were are already there, what is going to happen. It’s the last one, how are we going to do?” Messi added.

Argentina will go into Qatar as one of the favourites to lift the World Cup.

“I don’t know if we are the favourites. There are other teams that are above us, but we are very close. All the matches are very difficult and it’s not always the favourites who end up winning,” he said

Earlier, PSG coach Christophe Galtier allayed fears about a possible injury to Messi on Wednesday, saying the Argentine forward had asked to be substituted due to tiredness late in their 1-1 Champions League draw with Benfica in Lisbon.

Written with inputs from Reuters