Buenos Aires, Argentina – The Argentine national football team has announced its preliminary squad in preparation for the 2026 World Cup. The tournament will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
Coach Lionel Scaloni has revealed a preliminary squad of 55 players, headlined by the legendary Lionel Messi. Messi is preparing to participate in his sixth World Cup, a new milestone in his illustrious international career.
The Tango team will compete in the tournament within Group 10, which includes the national teams of Algeria, Austria and Jordan.
Argentina enters the tournament as the defending champion, having won the last World Cup in Qatar in 2012 after a thrilling victory over France in the final.
The initial list saw the absence of Paulo Dybala, the Roma player, in a decision that raised questions among Tango fans before the start of the tournament.
Argentine Gianluca Brestiani has also been ruled out of the first two World Cup matches due to a suspension stemming from an incident with Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior during a Champions League fixture.
UEFA had previously announced a six-match suspension for the Benfica player due to the events that occurred during the match against Real Madrid.
The Argentina national team roster is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa) – Geronimo Rulli (Olympique Marseille) – Juan Musso (Atletico Madrid) – Walter Benitez (Crystal Palace) – Facundo Cambeses (Racing Argentina) – Santiago Beltran (River Plate).
Defense: Agustin Guay (Palmeiras) – Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate) – Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid) – Nicolas Capaldo (Hamburg) – Kevin Mac Allister (Union Saint-Gilloise) – Lucas Martinez Quarta (River Plate) – Marcos Senesi (Bournemouth) – Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United) – Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica) – Germán Pezzella (River Plate) – Leonardo Balerdi (Olympique Marseille) – Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur) – Lautaro De Lolo (Boca Juniors) – Zaid Romero (Getafe) – Facundo Medina (Olympique Marseille) – Marcos Acuña (River Plate) – Nicolas Tagliafico (Olympique Lyonnais) – Gabriel Rojas (Racing Argentina).
Midfielders: Maximo Peroni (Como) – Leandro Paredes (Boca Juniors) – Guido Rodriguez (Valencia) – Aníbal Moreno (River Plate) – Milton Delgado (Boca Juniors) – Alan Varela (Porto) – Ezequiel Fernandez (Bayer Leverkusen) – Rodrigo De Paul (Inter Miami) – Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen) – Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea) – Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool) – Giovani Lo Celso (Real Betis) – Nicolas Dominguez (Nottingham Forest) – Emiliano Buendia (Aston Villa) – Valentin Barco (Strasbourg).
Attack: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) – Nicolas Paz (Como) – Franco Mastantono (Real Madrid) – Thiago Almada (Atletico Madrid) – Tomas Aranda (Boca Juniors) – Nicolas Gonzalez (Atletico Madrid) – Alejandro Garnacho (Chelsea) – Giuliano Simeone (Atletico Madrid) – Matias Solli (Roma) – Claudio Etxeferee (Girona) – Gianluca Prestini (Benfica) – Santiago Castro (Bologna) – Lautaro Martinez (Inter) – Jose Manuel Lopez (Palmeiras) – Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid) – Matteo Pellegrino (Parma).
