{"id":19165,"date":"2026-01-03T14:54:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T14:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/03\/thomas-muller-predicts-lionel-messis-influence-on-argentinas-national-team-at-the-2026-world-cup\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T14:54:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T14:54:24","slug":"thomas-muller-predicts-lionel-messis-influence-on-argentinas-national-team-at-the-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/03\/thomas-muller-predicts-lionel-messis-influence-on-argentinas-national-team-at-the-2026-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Muller predicts Lionel Messi&#8217;s influence on Argentina&#8217;s national team at the 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"ue-c-article--first-letter-highlighted\"><span class=\"capital-letter\">B<\/span>Ayern Munich and Germany legend Thomas Muller commented on Lionel Messi and his role in the upcoming World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Mexico, the United States and Canada, in a recent interview. The German player spoke about Messi&#8217;s role, which could be good or very bad for Argentina.<\/p>\n<p>The 2014 World Cup winner in Brazil addressed Messi&#8217;s problems at the World Cup, while also commenting on the future of the national team in this new World Cup, where Germany will have to qualify for the last 16.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ue-c-article__summary\">\n<figure class=\"ue-c-article__media ue-c-article__media--video  video-dailymotion\"><figcaption class=\"ue-c-article__media-caption\" itemprop=\"description\">\n<p><span class=\"ue-c-article__media-description\">Antonella Roccuzzo showed that Messi does not stray from the ball even during the break<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ue-c-article__subheadline\">Thomas Muller on Messi: &#8216;For better or worse, he could change the balance of the team&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>German strategist and former World Cup player Thomas Muller has analyzed Lionel Messi&#8217;s role in the next World Cup in 2026. The Bavarians lost 3-1 to Argentina&#8217;s Inter Miami and friends in the MLS final.<\/p>\n<p>By defeating Muller, Messi ended a winning streak of seven out of 10 games against the Germans, including Bayern Munich&#8217;s 8-2 victory over Barcelona and the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil, where the Germans were crowned champions by one goal at the Maracan\u00e3.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with Maganta TV, the German player commented that the 38-year-old Argentine star would bring a factor of uncertainty to the performance of the current world champion team.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"ue-c-article__blockquote\">\n<p>\u201cOf course, that could completely change the dynamic of this team, for better or worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"ue-c-article__blockquote-author\">thomas muller<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The German said Albiceleste qualified well with or without Messi, but expressed doubts whether the level they showed in MLS would truly have the same impact at the World Cup.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"ue-c-article__subheadline\">Thomas Muller selected for Germany&#8217;s 2026 World Cup squad<\/h2>\n<p>The interview also touched on the German national team&#8217;s 2026 World Cup opponents, Cura\u00e7ao, Ivory Coast and Ecuador, with the German commenting that Germany need to reach the last 16, but it won&#8217;t be easy when they face former African champions and Ecuador, who finished runners-up in the Conmebol qualifiers.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"ue-c-article__blockquote\">\n<p>\u201cWhen you look at the names of our opponents, it is clear that we must move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"ue-c-article__blockquote-author\">thomas muller<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marca.com\/en\/world-cup\/2026\/01\/03\/69591976ca47413f728b4576.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BAyern Munich and Germany legend Thomas Muller commented on Lionel Messi and his role in the upcoming World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Mexico, the United States and Canada, in a recent interview. The German player spoke about Messi&#8217;s role, which could be good or very bad for Argentina. The 2014 World Cup winner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Thomas Muller predicts Lionel Messi&#039;s influence on Argentina&#039;s national team at the 2026 World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/03\/thomas-muller-predicts-lionel-messis-influence-on-argentinas-national-team-at-the-2026-world-cup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thomas Muller predicts Lionel Messi&#039;s influence on Argentina&#039;s national team at the 2026 World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BAyern Munich and Germany legend Thomas Muller commented on Lionel Messi and his role in the upcoming World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Mexico, the United States and Canada, in a recent interview. 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