Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has revealed that star player Lionel Messi will play the friendly clash against Iceland on Tuesday ahead of the FIFA World Cup. Messi was on the bench but did not play in Argentina’s friendly win over Honduras on June 6. However, he did take part in pregame warmups at the game in College Station, Texas, on Saturday.

“Messi will play, I just don’t know how many minutes,” Scaloni said in a news conference on Monday. “I still need to talk to him in today’s training and we will see how many minutes he plays to avoid any type of risks. We will decide, but in principle he will play.”

Messi reported to Argentina camp after suffering muscle fatigue in his left hamstring, which he suffered while playing for Inter Miami in the Major Soccer League. Scaloni said they are going to assign minutes to every player on Tuesday.

“We’re going to distribute the minutes of the players who will play tomorrow to try to avoid any mishaps,” said the World Cup winning coach.

The head coach also provided injury updates on Julián Álvarez and Leandro Paredes.

“Julian Álvarez is doing well, he has an ankle discomfort that’s going away,” Scaloni said. “Lea Paredes is also coming along well, in the next few days he’ll be able to rejoin the group.”

Scaloni is waiting to announce Leonardo Balerdi’s replacement in the squad as he would get a clear picture after the friendly match.

“We’ll have a clearer picture tomorrow after the match regarding his replacement,” Scaloni said. “We can cover Balerdi’s position, but we are also looking at other options depending on how the rest of the injured players progress.”

Argentina will begin their World Cup defense against Algeria on June 16, before going on to play against Austria and Jordan in Group J.