F<\/span>Lionel Scaloni’s side could make history ahead of the upcoming World Cup after the finalisima against Spain was cancelled.<\/p>\nArgentina, who will defend the title they won in Qatar on December 18, 2022, will come into this tournament having not played a single European opponent throughout the World Cup. <\/p>\n
Argentina’s unprecedented situation<\/h2>\n
The first match between Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi could have taken place at Doha’s Lusail Stadium on March 27, but conflicts in the Middle East forced the venue to be changed. <\/p>\n
The decision was taken to cancel the match between the 2024 Copa Amrica champions and the 2024 Euro champions after AFA and CONMEBOL failed to reach an agreement with the Royal Spanish Football Federation and UEFA. In addition to this cancellation, a friendly match against Qatar will be added to conclude the FIFA period, which had already been abolished due to the Middle East conflict. <\/p>\n
This not only deprives Lionel Messi and his teammates of the chance to add another title in case of a win (10th place being the 47th), but also poses a big challenge for Lionel Scaloni, as the team will no longer have friendly matches against the European national teams as they prepare for the World Cup.<\/p>\n
Therefore, barring an unforeseen match in the coming months, Messi and the team will go into the 2026 World Cup without facing a European team for four years, something that has never happened before for any team in the Albiceleste’s history, TyC Sport reports. <\/p>\n
The contrast with other World Cup cycles is stark. Before the 2022 Qatar Games, Argentina faced Germany (2-2 in 2019), Italy (3-0 in 2022 Finalissima) and Estonia (5-0 in 2022).<\/p>\n
The last time Albiceleste faced their European rivals was in 1934, when they only faced Yugoslavia, but in the run-up to the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Albiceleste played a total of 22 teams, the most in Argentina’s history.<\/p>\n
The tournament is getting closer and closer and all that remains is to see if Lionel Messi and his teammates will defend their title in the warm-up matches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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