The 35-year-old further cemented his legacy as one of the greatest player of all time after leading La Albiceleste to their first World Cup triumph in 36 years, beating France on penalties in the final at the end of last year.
Messi, who scored seven goals in as many games in Qatar and was named Player of the Tournament, ruled out the possibility of international retirement shortly after lifting the biggest prize in football and the 172-cap forward has since been selected in Lionel Scaloni's 34-man squad for this month's international break.
The Paris Saint-Germain star, who is just two strikes away from reaching the 100-goal milestone at international level, is in line to start as captain on Friday, with Angel di Maria, Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez and Paulo Dybala also looking to force their way into the first XI.
Experience defender Nicolas Otamendi, who won his 100th cap for Argentina in the World Cup final, could keep his place at centre-back alongside either Lisandro Martinez or Cristian Romero, protecting first-choice goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez between the sticks.
Left-back Lautaro Blanco is one of four uncapped players - along with midfield trio Maximo Perrone, Facundo Buonanotte and Valentin Carboni - to have been selected in Scaloni's senior squad, and the quartet will be hoping to make their international debut against Panama.
Blanco is set to push Marcos Acuna and Nicolas Tagliafico for the left-back spot, while Perrone, Buonanotte and Carboni may have to settle for a place on the substitutes' bench to begin with, considering the plethora of central midfield options at Scaloni's disposal.
Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez and Alexis Mac Allister all started in the World Cup final and could retain their places on Friday, although the likes of Leandro Paredes, Giovani Lo Celso, Guido Rodriguez and Exequiel Palacios will also be pushing to start.
Argentina possible starting lineup: Martinez; Molina, Otamendi, Li. Martinez, Acuna; De Paul, Fernandez, Mac Allister; Messi, Alvarez, Di Maria
Barcelona 
Osasuna 
Krylya Sovetov 
Lokomotiv Moscow 
Aubagne 
Bordeaux 
Bayer Leverkusen 
VFL Bochum 
Strasbourg 
Lyon 
Gil Vicente 
Benfica 
Obolon-Brovar Kyiv 
Shakhtar Donetsk 
Sampdoria 
Frosinone 
Bayern Munich 
FC ST. Pauli 
Holstein Kiel 
Werder Bremen 
VFL Wolfsburg 
FC Heidenheim 
Celtic 
Heart Of Midlothian 
Espanyol 
Atletico Madrid 
Reims 
Marseille 
Rukh Lviv 
Dynamo Kyiv 
CSKA Moscow 
FK Makhachkala 
Juventus 
Genoa 
Eintracht Frankfurt 
VFB Stuttgart 
Dundee 
Rangers 
ST Etienne 
Paris Saint Germain 
Metz 
Lecce 
Roma 
Real Madrid 
Leganes 
NEC Nijmegen 
AZ Alkmaar 
Monaco 
Nice 
PSV 
Ajax 
Fiorentina 
Atalanta 
Akhmat Grozny 
Spartak Moscow 
Girona 
Feyenoord 
GO Ahead Eagles