Lionel Messi will not be joining Paris Saint-Germain on their trip to Lorient on Sunday as a precautionary measure due to some inflammation on his Achilles tendon.
PSG said on Saturday that the Argentina star, who will look to win the World Cup for the first time in his stellar career, is expected to resume training next week.
According to AFP, the French club will then have one more game, at home against Auxerre next Sunday, before Messi heads to Qatar.
Argentina’s first game of the World Cup is against Group C opponent Saudi Arabia on 22 November. Argentina then faces Mexico and Poland.
The 35-year-old Messi has been in great form for league leader PSG this season, netting seven league goals to go with a league-high 10 assists.
The record seven-time Ballon d’Or winner also has four goals and four assists in the Champions League.
Messi has netted nine goals in his past three games for Argentina, including a five-goal haul against Estonia at the end of last season.
He holds the national record with 90 goals for Argentina, including eight hat tricks.
AFP