Argentina continued their preparations following the 2-1 win over Mauritania with a training session on Saturday morning at Ezeiza, where players who saw limited action in that match took part in a friendly against the U-20 team led by Diego Placente.
The senior side won 1-0, with José Manuel López scoring the only goal of the match as he continues to strengthen his case for a spot in the final World Cup squad. Meanwhile, the players who featured against Mauritania focused on recovery work and gym sessions.
It is also worth noting that Argentina’s U-20 team came into this match after a recent 3-0 defeat against the United States U-20 side
Lionel Scaloni’s team for the friendly included Gerónimo Rulli in goal, with a back line of Agustín Giay, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Nicolás Otamendi and Nicolás Tagliafico. In midfield were Exequiel Palacios, Leandro Paredes and Valentín Barco, while Gianluca Prestianni, López and Nicolás Paz led the attack. Several players were rotated in during the match, including Juan Musso, Gabriel Rojas, Tomás Palacios, Máximo Perrone, Franco Mastantuono and Giuliano Simeone.
The squad has now been given Sunday off and will return on Monday morning, when they are scheduled to regroup for lunch before resuming training. From there, the focus will shift fully to Tuesday’s friendly against Zambia at La Bombonera, which will be Argentina’s final match on home soil before traveling to the United States for their pre-World Cup camp.
Scaloni faces key decisions in the coming weeks. The preliminary squad list, which can include between 35 and 55 players, must be submitted by May 11. The final 26-man squad deadline is May 30, although the list is expected to be announced earlier, as Argentina plans to travel to Kansas on May 28 to begin its final preparations for the World Cup.
We have seen how Spain play Australia etc
They havnt seen how we play Scaloni has revealed NOTHING
Why get upset at training games with very low teams we did EXACTLY the same pre last World Cup
…and to all these people worshipping Spain, lets not forget Spain always exited at round 16 or group stage (QF at best) in every WC they played other than 2010. Like England, they’re one hit wonder.
Spain came in to last 3 WC as pre tournament favorite only to be beaten by Japan, Morocco, Russia and Chile.
I’m sure most people isnt aware, but Brazil last match before WC 2002 was against Malaysia lol, and they won that fckin WC.
Honestly, our performance against Mauretania was pathetic. Only Paz, Enzo, Molina and Almada played reasonably well in the first half. After that, it was shocking, we could not string passes together, lost the ball often, no patters of play, etc.
I think the squad looked at it as a mere training game against a side they probably never heard of before, kind of relaxed transition from the base at Ezeiza to La Bombonera. I actually think that if a friendly in another country took place, the team would have approached it with more professionalism and seriousness.
We have know seen how Algeria and Austria played, as well as France twice and Spain once. We don’t look like favourites and I hope that is some kind of blessing in disguise. I do agree with others that De Paul, Acuna, Mastantuono should not be part of the squad.
Best case scenario Argentina lose or tied against Zambia and if not any of these results another poor display like we saw against Mauritania. The status quo is not working. The local press will then have to step in and demand changes to the team. This will force the hands of the coaching staff to drop certain players who are being a hindrance to Argentina 2026 World Cup hopes.
Perrone? What’s with these types of players? Like their physique and height are just not suitable for this world Cup when this team is already short on height and physical players. The same for Prestianni no need for this player. We’re not talking about Pisa from Serie A here, these guys are going to get run over at the World Cup.
Varela and Equi Fernandez should definitely be on this team, youth, more physically imposing than what we currently have in terms of Lo Celso, Paredes and DePaul. Panichelli was promising, he would have been useful in the offense and in the defense on set pieces. Equi Fernandez was really good against France at the 2024 Olympics, as soon as he moved to Europe this was the opportunity to integrate him into the team. Cristian Medina was another good player from the 2024 Olympic team, he should have been another alternative.
I’m still not sold on Juliano Simeone, just not a fan of the hustle and bustle playing style. He was mainly at fault for the goal conceded against Mauritania, like what was he doing?
Only Argentina on paper can prevent a European team from winning the World Cup given the other alternatives, so when people are being critical of Scaloni it’s not like we don’t appreciate his past achievements, and that’s what it is, past achievements. Didier Deschamps improved his 2018 World Cup winning team for the 2022 WC and now he has even made the 2022 WC team into something better for 2026, adding new players that help with his team’s overall objectives.
Scaloni has been window dressing the obvious problems facing his team post the 2022 WC final .The wing attacking positions with the exception of Di Maria were non-existent in Qatar. Simeone and Nico Gonzalez are not the solution in 2026 with their playing styles. Two players who won’t command any respect from opponents on the pitch. So the Yamal’s, Barcola’s, Dembele’s etc. of this world won’t need to put in a defensive shift if they’re to play against Argentina. Dembele defending in his own 18 yard box was precisely why Di Maria won the pk in the final because these are the players you want defending, they’re the ones likely to make mistakes given this is not their natural position, and it also prevents them from bombing up and down the pitch.
For this World Cup Molina is a decent option. He has improved a lot offensively, one of the main criticisms I had with him before was his lack of involvement in the attacking 3rd. Molina for me is a positive for the 2026 World Cup, there are not many great RBs and LBs in the modern game. I don’t see a player like Marc Cucurella as better than Molina even though he is a LB. The same for João Cancelo. And I would take Tagliafico over Marc Cucurella, the only disadvantage for Tagliafico is his age. AS I said before, he is a professional who gets the job done. Tagliafico’s problem is that the other aging players in important positions ( DePaul, Otamendi, Parades, LoCelso) won’t be enough to neutralize his age factor. Tagliafico is fine as long as he is not playing with the players I mention. And then there is Messi, who starts, stops and walks around for 90 minutes, this too won’t help.
Scaloni has won 4 cups with hustle bussle were have you been
These are the players I genuinely feel don’t belong in the national team anymore
Depaul –> Once he moved to MLS, his days at the top level are basically over. Seems like he’s more in relax party mode now, and will stay in Miami until Messi stays.
Paredes –> Roma let him go because he wasn’t really good enough for Serie A. Not sure how he’s doing domestically, but honestly, we should have moved on from him after the last Copa.
Montiel & Acuna –> Sevilla let them leave soon after the World Cup. That’s usually a sign they were not upto European standards
LoCelso –> Fitness has been extremely unreliable and his performance has dropped this season. Probably his last season in Europe.
Otamendi –> More like a fourth-choice defender now. Lost a lot of pace and could be a liability if forced to start in the World Cup.
Molina –> Backup RB at best. Very poor season in Spain, defending has gotten worse. Mbappe second goal had exposed Molina’s defending skills.
Tagliafico –> Backup LB at best. Slowed down significantly, weak offensively, and fitness issues are creeping in.
LMQ –> I honestly don’t understand why Scaloni even called him up.
Messi -> He wouldn’t even consider playing if he felt he wasn’t at the level anymore. The Spain match would have been a perfect test, but Scaloni hinting that Messi isn’t 100% sure about 2026 means something is cooking. Still, Messi is Messi , his passing and vision is still world-class. Finishing isn’t quite the same, but his sublime positioning makes him a lethal infront of the goal. With his lost pace, the team will need everyone giving 110% to cover for him.
Rojas and Giay, can anyone provide some insight? Are they ready to replace Acuna and Montiel?
The story never changes around here and I’m not picking on one guy or another, the highs are too high and the lows are too low. We were all looking forward to the match with Spain and when that didn’t happen due to the 1) OBVIOUS reason, 2) Tapia picking whatever opponent available as long as they come to ARG since he couldn’t leave the country and 3) timing restrictions.
Last night’s game wasn’t up to the Albiceleste’s standards or expectations but we got to see a bunch of different players wearing the shirt for the first time and we got what we got. Key word here is friendly and nobody wanted to risk seeing anybody hurt especially since it was raining hippos and elephants.
Relax, don’t stress or overthink things.
My problem has always been with the Messi bullshit of I don’t know if I want to play or not we will see. When you are thinking of retiring, you have already retired. It happens to all of us. We all lose the battle against time. Why have him be a critical part of your team when he literally looks like me running out there? He is good for 10 minutes a game maybe. You settle that, and you can tell these stiffs like Acuna and DePaul, and Otamendi their time is up. The fact that Barranchea and Soule and others aren’t being considered and you are taking this fucking stiff DePaul when he basically said peace out is absolutely insane. Are you telling me really that two of the players for the world champions play for Inter Miami and Inter Miami is mediocre at best? Give me a freaking break.
I’ll say it again, the game changed in the second half. When you bring in washed up players like Messi and DePaul, you can’t play effectively when it’s 9 on 11. For goodness sake, people need to get it through their thick head; aside from the one or two occasional moments that Messi might create the team suffers when he plays. He is great for a pass here or there, and a free kick. That’s it. Nothing more. The guy is playing in the MLS and is 38 freaking years old. Give it a rest. He is good for 10 minutes a game at international level. He knows this, Scaloni knows this, anybody that is not being emotional about him knows this. As for the other stiff DePaul, we are leaving Soule and Barranchea out of the club for some f*ing guy that hung up his cleats for the Miami lifestyle and to be closer to Tini. This guy is not serious about football. He quit the moment he went to Miami. He wants to party, hang with Tini, and have us bow to his glory years. Screw that. He has no business being anywhere near the NT any longer. We are wasting an opportunity for this shit show. Unbelievable.
Without going into the personal life of De Paul, more of less agree with what you say. In 2022 we went into the cup with almost all fairly settled in the team including Almada. This time it seems Scaloni would be turning the “Luck wheel” and pick up wherever the wheel-pin stops. I am losing hopes. But we really had a solid team. Post 2022, many players are doing fairly decent in leading leagues like McAllister, Alvarez, Enzo, Lautaro, Nico Paz, Simeone, Molina (only in recent times, though). But it seems some of the settled players do not have a 2026 appetite and some new ones like Lopez, Senesi etc. are struggling to fit in. Then there are, of course, old guards who are not in their classy avatar any more like Messi, De Paul, Romero, Almada et al