The Argentine team has chosen the Inter Miami CF club headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (USA) as a training ground, before the match against Venezuela in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America.
According to ESPN, Messi and his teammates' travel plans may be affected by Hurricane Milton, which is about to make landfall on the west coast of Florida.
Although Fort Lauderdale is not in the path of Hurricane Milton, the area is under a tropical storm warning and flood watch.
According to plan, the Argentina team will arrive in Venezuela on the afternoon of October 9, but this may be affected by the storm.
“Security is a very delicate issue. The upcoming match is very important, but security is more important. We are worried about whether the team will be able to leave as planned. We are not sure,” said coach Lionel Scaloni.
Weather permitting, the Argentine team will arrive in Venezuela exactly one day before the match.
“We had a lot of logistical difficulties for the match. The team will arrive in Venezuela one day before the match. We cannot fly to Maturin (the match venue), the team has to stop and transfer because they do not allow direct flights from the US to Venezuela.
These are things that do not depend on us. We have had bad luck with the weather and logistics. But the most important thing is the safety and health of the players and the rest of the team,” Scaloni continued.
Argentina have had two training sessions in Florida with a reduced squad, with most of their players playing in Europe out of sync. Captain Messi has attended all the sessions and is expected to feature in the two matches against Venezuela and Bolivia.
"Leo is fine. He played some games before coming to train with us and that's what he needed. He was fit, played some games and now he will be part of the Argentina team," the strategist born in 1978 continued.
However, Argentina will have to contend with the absence of several other players as Marcos Acuna and Alejandro Garnacho are injured, while goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez is sidelined due to a FIFA ban.
Argentina are currently leading the South American World Cup qualifying table with 18 points after eight matches.
According to the schedule, the match between Venezuela and Argentina will take place at 4:00 a.m. on October 11.
