The world champion faces his third match on the way to the World Cup in North America with the great unknown about the status of his captain.
The Argentina national team’s road to the 2026 World Cup in North America started in the best possible way, with six points out of a possible six and a performance worthy of the world champion. And now, for the third match in the South American qualifiers, a historically complicated opponent arrives for the Albiceleste: this Thursday, October 12, they host Paraguay at the Monumental, whom they have defeated only once at home in the last fifty games. year of World Cup qualifiers.
Looking ahead to the double date, which will also include the visit to Peru on Tuesday the 17th, this Monday the bulk of those summoned from abroad to start training arrived, with the prominent presence of Lionel Messi. The captain’s availability is the big unknown in the preview, after he played a few minutes again for Inter Miami this weekend, after spending a month virtually without activity due to the muscle injury he suffered against Ecuador in September.
But Leo’s situation is not the only problem that Lionel Scaloni will have to solve when assembling the team: among the many players who will miss both matches due to injury, there is the absence of Ángel Di María, a key member of the ideal eleven , at stake. out.
Those called up by the Argentina national team
The world champion is heading into the double date with a long player list, with the presence of several Under-23 players such as Carlos Alcaraz, Marco Pellegrino, Bruno Zapelli, Lucas Esquivel and Facundo Farías once again standing out. Be that as it may, none of them will even appear on the bench against Paraguay and Peru and they will be working under the command of Javier Mascherano more than anything else.
As for the rest, in addition to the return of Marcos Acuña, Giovani Lo Celso and Lucas Martínez Quarta, the absences due to injuries are the most striking: beforehand, the coach did not even include Lisandro Martínez, Ángel Correa and Ángel Di in the selection. call María, while after the payroll was published, Juan Foyth and Paulo Dybala also joined the victims. Considering this situation, Facundo Medina is the one who joined the summons.
The full list of those called up:
Sagittarians:
- Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
-
Franco Armani (river)
- Juan Musso (Atalanta)
- Walter Benitez (PSV)
Defenders:
- Gonzalo Montiel (Nottingham Forest)
- Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid)
- German Pezzella (Real Betis)
- Cristian Romero (Tottenham)
- Lucas Martínez Quarta (Fiorentina)
- Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica)
- Marco Pellegrino (Milan)
- Marcos Acuña (Seville)
- Nicolás Tagliafico (Olympique Lyon)
- Lucas Esquivel (Paranaense Athletics)
- Facundo Medina (lens)
Midfielders:
- Leandro Paredes (Rome)
- Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis)
- Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea)
- Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid)
- Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen)
- Carlos Alcaraz (Southampton)
- Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham)
- Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool)
- Thiago Almada (Atlanta United)
- Bruno Zapelli (Athletico Paranense)
Fronts:
- Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)
- Julián Álvarez (Manchester City)
- Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
- Facundo Farias (Inter Miami)
- Lucas Beltran (Fiorentina)
- Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United)
- Nicolás González (Fiorentina)
- Lucas Ocampos (Seville)
The formation of the Argentina national team
At the moment there are no indications about the team that Scaloni could use against Albirroja. A first tactical rehearsal will certainly take place on Tuesday, during which the eleven will be unveiled.
Source: Goal