Get your maps at the ready if you really need the answer to why the Argentine superstar is not playing at the Euro 2024

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Now look. We’re not judging you for landing here. Geography is not everybody’s strong suit, after all; a friend of mine at college, who got all As on her A-levels, thought that Florida was in California and that Argentina was adjacent to Spain.

If it were, then Lionel Messi may well be appearing at Euro 2024, but it’s not: it’s all the way down in South American, tucked away between Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay. That renders them ineligible to compete at the Euros.

The Americas have their own continental tournament, which actually takes in two continents, North America and South America. Argentina are in fact the reigning champions after winning it in 2021, with the next edition due to kick off in the United States later this month. If you’re desperate to get your Messi fix, he's in the Argentina squad, so tune in to that instead.

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