Rumored Argentina national team starting eleven vs. Cabo Verde at World Cup

1. Instead of discussing other big teams am very worried of this Cape Verde side. It’s making me feel very nervous. Should Cape Verde upset Argentina I will be offline for good. It’s good to be confident but this Cape Verde team might prove to be unpredictable and tough to break down.

2. The path is becoming much clearer now. After the Netherlands and Germany stumbled, most of the big teams have survived and are still in the hunt.

   Out of all the remaining teams, the one I really don’t want to see win is Portugal. And honestly, it’s because of one player. It feels like he can be quiet for most of the match, then step up for a penalty and suddenly become the center of attention again. The celebrations and media circus around him just aren’t for me.

   I’d honestly be more okay with England winning, and that’s saying something because they’ve historically been the team I’ve enjoyed rooting against the most. At least then we’d only have to endure another round of “It’s Coming Home” from every English-speaking sports channel until the next World Cup!

3. Round of 32 today. Time to march on and book our place in the next round. We may have to dig deep because they defend really well, but that’s knockout football. Let’s see.

   As for VAR, I’m still not convinced. The biggest problem is consistency. Some incidents get checked for minutes, while others that seem obvious don’t get reviewed at all. Goalkeepers are taking advantage of it, defenders are scared to make contact at corners, and the flow of the game keeps getting interrupted.

   I like the new time limits for throw-ins, goal kicks, and substitutions because they reduce time-wasting. But VAR still needs much more clarity and consistency. Right now, it feels like nobody really knows where the line is.

4. I would like to thank croatia for knocking out Brazil in 2022 and making the semifinal easier for us. They have been clearly robbed. Portugal gonna lose anyway maybe against Spain.

5. We have a very long gap from last match to this, messi was wise to play few minutes..
   Now all major teams matches are finished today the whole team in the tournament will be watching the match and cheering us to fail
   Hope these long gap wont effect our form..

6. France, Spain, Brazil and England have showcased their best version in the round of 32 game and declared all of them are contendors for this world cup.

   We have played well so far, hopefully we too bring our best game against Cabo Verde. I want:

   Messi to continue his scoring form, but also open his assist book.
   Alvarez to score a confidence boosting goal. One for Lautaro too 🙂
   Fast team moves to unsettle Cabo Verde and our best game of this world cup.

7. Croatia got robbed! The last one was not offside because a Portugese player touched it . And how does one even decide “not deliberate” – do they have mind reading device in cameras? Also, the penalty was soft. Croatia played better, but bad luck!

   • Very lucky penaldo

     • Pendu scores a penalty and becomes penaldo.

       • Portugal is the worst team didnt even know how are they even surviving anyway spain gonna knock them out

8. Anyway, I am already kind of bitter last 2 days with how England and Brazil played well to come back from behind and win. France was so good against Sweden, and today Spain was very good.
   Moreover, if Cabo Verde held this Spain to 0-0, they will not be easy. I just hope nothing bad happens.
   Also, I hope at least Croatia wins against Portugal. That would be a consolation. I am hoping Modric and his team can go far in this tournament.

9. I read most of the comments and honestly, I am confused by the amount of hate Almada is getting.
   Against Austria and against Jordan Almada was more than decent.
   If you watch the full match you will see that Messi’s freekick goal actually starts with Almada. Almada goes past around 3 Jordan players before he passes which ultimately opens up space around Messi. The ball then takes around 2 or 3 more touches between Messi, Barco and Alvarez before Messi gets fouled. But the need for foul arose because Almada had opened up space.
   Messi’s first goal against Austria was also mostly because of Almada. Almada went on a sprint with the ball before passing it to Medina who actually passed it back to Almada, but Almada being aware that Messi was behind him made a dummy so that Messi can score.
   Mind you, Almada almost never plays full game. Against Austria he played around 60 minutes, and against Jordan around 30 minutes. And he did nothing to get the kind of hate and name calling he is getting here.

   • Bro Lo celsa had better game than Almada vs Jordan and Almada is fine as a sub but he shouldnt be a starter. Almada is yet to find back his form that he used to have during qualifiers. And Lo celso is doing so well. He deserves to be a starter .

10. Players shouldn’t have been called up:
    1- Almada
    2- Montiel
    3- Medina
    4- Otamendi
    5- Flaco Lopez: is he a spectator?

    • Medina playing brilliant, Almada Was good. I agree with Montiel

    • Lopez was taken maybe due to alvarez and lautaros injury. And so as otamendi. I agree with u regarding montial

11. This is a public discussion forum, not a fan club where everyone is expected to agree. Fans are free to criticize players, question Scaloni’s tactics, debate lineups, and discuss emerging talent. Healthy criticism is part of football, and no one is obligated to applaud every decision.

    If everyone simply agreed with each other, there would be nothing to discuss. Football is built on different opinions. One fan sees a tactical issue, another blames individual performances, and someone else sees something entirely different. That’s what makes these discussions interesting. As long as the conversation remains respectful, disagreement isn’t a problem, it’s the whole point of a public forum.

    • Valid point

    • I am all in for criticism, but I think our coaches and players deserve the love and respect for what they have done. One must not insult the coach and players just because they couldnt understand their game.

      Unfortunately, some people think its only goals and assists that count. But Football is much more than that. If Scaloni prefers Almada over Nico and viceversa, there is a reason.

      As he always used to say, only Messi is a guarantee in his team. The tactcs and the form of the players decide the rest of the team.

12. Scaloni values Almada because he is tactically intelligent and gives Argentina flexibility. Almada drifts into pockets of space, links midfield to attack, presses aggressively, and is disciplined enough to help the team without the ball. Scaloni himself once summed it up perfectly: “Almada plays the way the team wants to play.”
    That’s why you’ll often see him starting from the left, underneath the striker, or even dropping into midfield rather than being fixed in one position. His role is less about individual brilliance and more about connecting the team, creating overloads, and opening spaces for others.
    In other words, Scaloni isn’t selecting Almada because he’s the most talented player available for one position—he’s selecting him because he improves the functioning of the entire system.

    • This exactly. Well put

    • Mark my word, this will be Almada’s last game, Scaloni will drop him in the upcoming games and he will not even come as a sub. He provides zero contribution in this world cup, not surprising being a bench warmer at athletico Madrid.

13. We all have opinions on selections and line-ups, but I think many of us underestimate what Scaloni and his staff actually do. Their job isn’t simply picking the “best XI”; it’s understanding player profiles, chemistry, tactical match-ups, dressing-room dynamics and preparing multiple game plans for different opponents.

    The best example was the 2022 World Cup Final. Before facing France, Scaloni confidently said they knew where France’s weakness was and that Argentina would hurt them there. Then he surprised everyone by starting Di María on the left, isolating him against Koundé. That wasn’t luck—it was a carefully prepared tactical plan, and it worked brilliantly.

    This is the same coaching staff that has transformed Argentina from a rebuilding side into 2 Copa América, Finalissima and World Cup champions while losing remarkably few matches over the past several years. They have earned the benefit of the doubt. We can debate decisions—that’s part of being fans—but I think they’ve shown time and again that they usually see things long before the rest of us do.

14. Has anyone noticed that Veron was at the Portugal vs. Colombia game, but in the same day, he wasn’t there to watch Argentina and Messi? Considering his wife said some pretty vile things about Messi and Tapia, I wonder if this was some kind of political statement, attending Messi’s biggest rival’s game while skipping Argentina’s on the same day.

    Or am I reading too much into it?

    • No u are not reading into this too much. I noticed the same. And Veron has been a piece of shit for decades now. He is the jealous type and I’ve never been a fan of his.

15. I think best form of France, England and Brazil already showed. Now teams can plan to shut down them.

    Scaloni is an intelligent manager. Best Argentina team we will see in this WC from QF match only. Till that, they will play with precautions. To avoid any injuries, cards..etc. Cape Verde and Australia/Egypt will not be that hard.

16. I agree with BigB, it is hilarious watching armchair coaches act as if Scaloni is just guessing out there. The guy literally has a tactical masterclass behind him: Manna is one of the best video analysts in the world breaking down footage, Aimar handles the attack, and legends like Samuel and Ayala run the defense and mid-game adjustments. Scaloni isn’t just winging it, he has a literal tactical lab running that team. Plus our locker room atmosphere is one of the best if not the best in the world for many years in a row now. And our fan base shows up in huge numbers and are loud, a real presence that makes a difference. Yes, some players like Alvarez are underperforming, not fully fit yet perhaps, but overall Scaloni deserves highest possible trust. He has that credit and then some…

    • I couldn’t agree with you more. It put a bad taste in my mouth to see how some people react about Scaloni and some of the players. We’ve never had so much joy as Argentina fans for the past five years. It’s all thanks to the tireless work of the coaching staff and the players. Please everyone relax the team will be fine.

    • Couldn’t have put it better. Some of us have waited since 1990 Italia know the sheer dimension of Scaloni’s achievement. I just hope no one from the Argentina NT has any of these terrible ideas that most people post here. 🙂
      I see Sampaoli in each of them 😉

17. I see a lot of expert coaches insulting Scaloni who won 3 major trophies after a disastrous run of 30 years, 36 excluding Copa. He has been our best coach in the last 40 years. From squad selection to team building, dybamic tactics to playing 11, from different playing styles to right substituions he has done many things pretty well which his predecessors could not achieve.

    He won these major trophies with an ageing Messi and lesser talented pool of players. Imagine what we would have achieved if we had a coach like him all these years from 1998 during this time we had one of the best squads in the world (1998 to 2006) or the peak years of Magician Messi (2006 to 2018).

    If we look at the player profile of first 11, Argentina is not even among top 5, but we are the second favourite for this world cup due to the TEAM he built. So all the EXPERTS who have been bashing Scaloni, please keep your “HARWARD” coaching degree aside, just support our team. Many people like me are tired of seeing your negative comments and the height of stupidity for teaching Scaloni. Its fine to give your opinion, but saying Scaloni has no clue for picking the players you dont like is stupid. Many of you were criticizing our players and coach in 2022 until we won and you were shameless to accept your mistake.

    I fully support Scaloni’s tactics and playing 11. I just hope that the players whoever is picked come good like LoCelso and Paredes in the last game.

    Messi is among the top for expected assists, but yet he has no assist which says a lot about the goal scoring form of our attacking players.

    I want Alvarez firing on all cyllinders because he is a very important player for us – he is not just a great goal scorer, but excellent in pressing at the top. We badly need him on top form if we have go very far.

    I believe KO stage will bring the best out of our players and they all start firing. Vamos!

    • Agree.

    • 100% Agree…

18. What’s the plan if Lautaro or Alvarez fail to make an impact again in this game? This will already be their fourth game. By “impact,” I don’t just mean scoring. At least contribute something with the ball, provide quality assist, add some flair and put some pressure in opponent backline. Unfortunately, neither of them has really done any of that in the first three games.

    If they fail to deliver again in the fourth game, what do you think Scaloni should do? Stick with them, or stop using a traditional No. 9 altogether? Maybe play Messi as a false 9 and bring Nico Paz Alongside him ? Or push Enzo Fernandez into a more advanced role and bring Barco into Enzo’s position.

    • Alvarez and Lautaro aren’t getting any service from the midfield. Almada, Enzo, and Mac Allister are mostly recycling possession, passing sideways or backwards instead of playing forward. Against Jordan, I only recall one through ball to Lautaro, and he was offside. Enzo needs to do what Olise is doing for France, receive the ball between the lines, turn, and look to create chances.

      One option is to start Barco instead of Almada. Barco has the ability to deliver dangerous crosses into the box, which would give Alvarez and Lautaro much better service.

      I’ve also noticed that everyone is trying to find Messi and waiting for him to make something happen. Argentina has become too dependent on him. The midfield needs to take more responsibility and create chances instead of always looking for Messi first.

19. Cape Verde may line up on paper in a 4-3-2 formation, but during the game they usually drop into a five-man defense. I just hope they commit two or three fouls near the edge of the 18-yard box. I have a feeling Messi will score at least one free-kick goal.

    Cape Verde are most dangerous in quick vertical transitions, using their pacey wingers on the counterattack. Other than that, they don’t seem to have many attacking patterns.

    I hope Scaloni finds the right tactical solution, controls those transitions, and helps Argentina secure a comfortable victory. 🇦🇷🐐

20. I think we should try barco, paz as a starter, both can replace almada, de Paul…coz mac allister play well in knockouts I hope..

    • Honestly, any player but Almada; he’s a cancer to the team. Selecting him in the world champion’s team just baffles me, and this decision along with other bizarre decisions will fireback.

21. I believe Scaloni and the coaching staff are preparing for anything and on Friday night we’ll see what they have in store for us. Let’s wait patiently, the team wants to be on the field on the last day of the competition. So let’s remember where we were and what so many people said about Scaloni when he was appointed. He proves everyone wrong and I hope he proves all us wrong once again with his selection. He made his choice based on what he knows better than all of us combine.

22. Just watching the highlights of Argentina in 2010 world cup….
    How golden generation was !!!
    Messi
    Di Maria
    Higuain
    Aguero
    Tevez
    Maxi Rodriguez
    Veron
    Mascherano
    Pastore
    Milito
    Heinze
    Demechillis
    Otamendi…
    Gold time
    But could not utilize

    • Riquelme missing that’s why

      • Also to add,Diego milito was missed badly.The main force behind inter’s treble in the year 2010.Maradona is one of the greatest player,no second thoughts on that but his coaching ability was not even mediocre.

        • Also zanetti and cambiasso weren’t called up. Instead we got a bum from Newcastle which was a relegated team at the time. Veron should have been missed instead.

    • That team was extremely top heavy, El Diego packed all the attacking super stars hoping that it would do the job with an aging midfield and defense. As much as I loved Maradona, he should have never been picked as a coach.
      2014 WC, Sabella managed to assemble a more refined attack in combination with an aging defense that performed marvelously but lousy luck and El Pipita happened.

      Then Tata came along, same offense but everything else was left to chance, he refused to change tactics or aging players which left the team SLOW and predictable and off course, El Pipita happened again and again in Copa America 2015/16.

      Let’s not forget Batista and the 2011 Copa America, an overweight Tevez that looked liked a balloon and the rest of the Super Stars who again underperformed.

      • We shouldn’t have lost confidence in Tata after 16 copa. Yeah, he failed to win the trophies, but his team was still competent. If he had stayed, Argentina would have been a much more competitive side at the 2018 World Cup instead of it turning into such a wasted campaign.

        Tata was able to get one of the best versions of Messi, much like Scaloni did. His midfield and defense were also well balanced. Not being able to break down that Chile team was unfortunate, but they played pure anti football.

23. It’s Scaloni’s preferred XI—so let him cook. Every cycle we look for a scapegoat (Sosa, Meza, now maybe Almada), but it always comes back to one thing: winning.

    Legacy isn’t built on “beautiful football,” it’s built on trophies. Messi or no Messi, just keep winning and breaking teams down.

    Round of 32 has mostly gone to plan after an early chaotic start. England looked shaky but survived, Belgium scraped through, USA win was expected.

    Today should be better: Spain must win, Portugal vs Croatia is a toss-up, and Switzerland vs Algeria… honestly not exciting.

24. Not the starting XI I was hoping for.

    Against a deep-defending side, you need players who can **break lines**, eliminate defenders, and create overloads in tight spaces. Otherwise, you end up passing the ball around until you’re confronted by twenty legs and two goalkeeping hands camped inside the box.

    Apart from Messi, who can conjure something out of nothing at any moment, the rest of the lineup feels more like a collection of **ball recyclers** than **line breakers**. This looked like the kind of game where Nico Paz’s ability to receive on the half-turn and suddenly attack open space could have been invaluable. Almada, talented as he is, offers a different profile. I suspect Scaloni may turn to Nico sooner rather than later.

    On the left, I would have preferred Tagliafico over Medina. Medina has generally done well, but his occasional moments of hesitation can be costly in knockout football. With both Medina and Almada on the left, we also become a little predictable. It’s almost an invitation to the opposition: *”Overload our right side—we’re unlikely to hurt you down the left.”*

    One concern that has lingered since Qatar is our struggle against compact, low-block teams. Saudi Arabia stunned us. Mexico required a moment of Messi brilliance. Poland restricted us for long spells. Even in this tournament, against teams like Algeria, Austria and Jordan, we’ve found it difficult to create consistent, high-quality chances inside the box. That said, it would be interesting to see if Scaloni has a surprise or two up his sleeve.

    One broader trend I’ve noticed in this Round of 32 is how often the favourites have been caught cold in the opening 15–20 minutes. Japan, Congo and Senegal all struck early, leaving the giants scrambling. That should serve as a warning to every big team—including us. The first quarter of the match may well be the most dangerous period of the night.

25. I agree with the comments here. Almada shouldn’t be near the NT; poor performance, weak physicality, and washed form.

26. I don’t understand Scaloni’s obsession with Almada. He had a similar level of faith in MacAllister, but the difference is that Macallister was already performing well for Brighton in the premier League. Almada, on the other hand, had a disappointing spell at Atletico, and his lack of physical presence due to his short height is another drawback.

    Nico Gonzalez would be a much better option on the wing, but it seems Scaloni doesn’t want to start with natural wingers. If the idea is to play an attacking midfielder instead, then Lo Celso would still be the better choice over Almada.

    Also, Alvarez doesn’t seem fully focused on the world Cup. I don’t understand why he woild choose to talk negatively about his current club in the middle of the tournament. It feels like the world cup should be his only priority right now, and those discussions could easily wait until after the competition.

27. So, it’s the same lineup against Austria..

28. English version of the Muchachos song

    “…..because back down in Qatar we F***** all those frenchies, now the cup is back with Dad…”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drp7PuTrSUU

29. Poor Senegal🇸🇳 How they blew their lead away was quite shocking against the worst edition of Belgium i have ever seen in my entire life….. Tactical side of play from Senegal not yet there where it should had been….Completly dominating over such poor Belgium side for more, than 70 min’s/ allmost 80 min’s and got feared of Lukaku who has played more minutes in this tournament, than in whole last season….Terible decission making from whole Senegal team who should had more, than easily won this game…..This will be very hard for them to deal with and i feel really sorry for them….
    And Belgium won’t enjoy their luck for long if they don’t start playing better, which is very hard to imagine….Long are gone the days of Belgium’s golden generation….

30. Unfortunately scaloni don’t want to use any change for improve mid and attack field,in this world cup farance would be champion

    • This is the same problem every coach or every national team did after winning the world cup.that’s why it’s so difficult to defend the world cup.they tend to keep playing the tried and tested players only.in 2022 wc Saudi Arabia defeating is was the turning point if that didn’t happen argentina would not have field enzo and mcallister in midfield or even Alvarez in attack.in first 2 game our midfield looks sluggish and uninspiring 3rd match with youngsters looked fluid but lacked control.with old midfield we got back control but again looked awfully sluggish without any creativity.we should be concerned about our midfield our attack and defence is okay

31. I don’t like almada and mcallister.those 2 making us look weak

Comments are closed.