Lionel Messi will start Argentina’s last Group J match against Jordan on the bench, after head coach Lionel Scaloni announced plans to rest his captain ahead of the World Cup knockout rounds.

The 39-year-old has had a fantastic tournament, scoring five goals in Argentina’s first two games. With his brace against Austria, he became the FIFA World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer.

Despite Messi’s exceptional form, Scaloni stated that the decision was made to manage the veteran forward’s workload rather than to address fitness issues.

Before Sunday’s match in Dallas, Argentina’s coach stated: “Leo [Messi] will most likely come on in the second half.”

He added: “We talked and agreed that it was better that way, but obviously it’s also good for him to stay in competitive form.”

Scaloni also denied that his roster selection was affected by Argentina’s forthcoming knockout match.

“The decision of who plays tomorrow is not related to who plays in the next match,” he said.

“Jordan is a good opponent, and our intention will be to have the ball and dominate through possession. The opponent’s forwards are fast and we will have to take that into account.”

Messi presently leads the race for the Golden Boot with five goals, while France star Kylian Mbappe has four after failing to score in his team’s win over Norway.

Norway’s Erling Haaland, who has four goals, was rested in the same round of fixtures, but France winger Ousmane Dembele drew level with Mbappe after scoring three goals in the first half against Norway.

Although Messi will not start against Jordan, he is anticipated to play in the second half as Argentina looks to complete the group stage strongly before moving on to the round of 32.