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After spending most of the last month on the sidelines, Lionel Messi could return to the pitch after being selected to Argentina's national team for this month's World Cup qualifiers.

Messi was named to the squad on Thursday alongside a handful of players who also won the World Cup with him last year, including forward Julian Alvarez and defender Cristian Romero. Miami's Inter Miami teammate Facundo Farias also received a call up.

His selection comes as a surprise after a month where he saw very little time on the pitch. Messi started and played 89 minutes in Argentina's World Cup qualifying win over Ecuador on Sept. 7, but it was the last time he played a major part in any match for club or country. He missed out on their following game -- a win over Bolivia on Sept. 12 -- citing fatigue, and then Inter Miami's loss at Atlanta United on Sept. 15.

Messi returned to the lineup for Miami's Sept. 20 win over Toronto FC, but came off in the 37th minute. He has not played since during an important spell of games for Miami. The team lost last week's U.S. Open Cup final to the Houston Dynamo without Messi, and no longer control their fate in securing a playoff berth after a string of unimpressive results.

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Miami has not specified what Messi's fitness issue is, leaving many questions that could be answered by how much playing time he ends up seeing for Argentina this month.

Argentina hope to continue their winning streak in World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay on Oct. 12 and Peru on Oct. 17.