Buenos Aires, March 18 (H.S.) : Inter Miami star forward Lionel Messi will not be able to play in Argentina's upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifier matches against Uruguay and Brazil. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) confirmed this on Monday.

The 37-year-old Messi was not included in Argentina's 26-member squad, even though he played the full 90 minutes for Inter Miami against Atlanta United in an MLS match on Sunday, scoring a spectacular goal.

According to local media reports, Messi suffered a left thigh injury (adductor strain) during the match, which will prevent him from playing against Uruguay (Friday, away match) and Brazil (Tuesday, home match).

Argentina's head coach Lionel Scaloni has also excluded Paulo Dybala (Roma), Giovani Lo Celso (Real Betis), and Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate) from the final team, which was selected from an initial list of 33 players.

Argentina is currently at the top of the South American qualifying table with 25 points from 12 matches, while Uruguay is in second place with 20 points.

Argentina's 26-member squad:

Goalkeepers:

Emiliano Martinez, Geronimo Rulli, Walter Benitez.

Defenders: Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, German Pezzella, Leonardo Balerdi, Juan Foyth, Nicolas Otamendi, Facundo Medina, Nicolas Tagliafico.

Midfielders:

Leandro Paredes, Enzo Fernandez, Rodrigo De Paul, Exequiel Palacios, Alexis Mac Allister, Maximo Perrone, Giuliano Simeone, Benjamin Dominguez, Thiago Almada.

Forwards:

Nicolas Gonzalez, Nicolas Paz, Julian Alvarez, Lautaro Martinez, Santiago Castro, Angel Correa.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar