BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Argentina coach amid worrisome injuries Lionel Scaloni Most of the current world champions, including captains, lionel messibecomes a member of a team aiming to win the tournament for the second consecutive time. 2026 world cup.
The soon-to-be 39-year-old Messi is at the top of the 26-man World Cup squad announced by the Argentine Football Association on Thursday.
Seventeen of the players called up were part of the team that won the final against France in Qatar four years ago.
Several of these players were in doubt due to injuries of varying severity as FIFA approached the June 1 deadline set to finalize World Cup squads. Among them was Messi himself, who is suffering from an illness. muscle fatigue And he missed last Sunday’s game against Inter Miami due to a strained left hamstring.
The club officially stated that his recovery time would depend on “his clinical and functional progress”. This will be Messi’s sixth World Cup appearance, having previously played in Germany in 2006, South Africa in 2010, Brazil in 2015, Russia in 2018, and Qatar in 2022.
Nominated by goalkeeper Martinez
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who broke his right ring finger in last week’s Europa League final when Aston Villa beat Freiburg, was also confirmed injured.
Scaloni’s team also includes defender Cristian Romero, who is recovering from a right knee collateral ligament sprain sustained in mid-April while playing for Tottenham, and full-backs Nahuel Molina and Gonzalo Montiel, who scored the decisive penalty in the 2002 World Cup game against France, who are both recovering from muscular injuries.
Argentina, who were also world champions in 1978 and 1986, will make their debut against Algeria on June 16 in Group J, which also includes Austria and Jordan.
The team will travel to its World Cup home base in Kansas City on Saturday, where it will play friendlies against Honduras and Iceland before the tournament begins.
___
Argentina representative:
Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Geronimo Lulli (Olympique de Marseille), Juan Musso (Atletico Madrid).
Defenders: Gonzalo Montiel (Riber Plate), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Leonardo Balerdi (Olympique Marseille), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Nicolas Tagliafico (Olympique Lyon), Facundo Medina (Olympique Marseille).
Midfielders: Giovani Lo Celso (Betis), Leandro Paredes (Boca Juniors), Rodrigo de Paul (Inter Miami), Equéquiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Enzo Fernandes (Chelsea), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Valentin Barco (RC Strasbourg Alsace).
Forwards: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Nicolás González (Atletico Madrid), Giuliano Simeone (Atletico Madrid), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), Jose Manuel López (Palmeiras), Julián Álvarez (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Almada (Lyon), Nico Paz (Como).
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
