It's a tricky situation.
On one hand you don't want him to play, especially in La Paz, and risk an injury or other issues.
On the other hand, if he doesn't play, Argentina are useless. They struggle to win without him and if he loses a game or two their chances of getting to the WC will diminish and Messi might get absolutely heart broken not getting another chance in a World Cup and missing it. It's the one thing he want the most in his professional career, one thing he is desperate to achieve, to win something with Argentina.
Mascherano is yet to achieve success with Argentina too. Next WC will definitely be his last too. These two have achieved everything and done so much for Barca and Argentina, been so close for the latter, yet so far.
Norway sucks and France I like, but I just want to see Messi and Mascherano win something with Argentina when it comes to International Football. Our other players have won, but these two have not, and they deserve to win something being so close many times.
I really hope they do. The odds might be stacked against them if they make it to Russia, but you can hope for a miracle.