Rumored Argentina starting eleven vs. Switzerland at World Cup

1. This all I have to say:

   Put Austria in a group with Canada, Qatar and Bosnia Herz and Argentina would be playing Austria in today’s quarterfinal game.

   There is no need to make Switzerland bigger than they actually are, no need to make them giants amongst men. They’re just your typical mid size European football team that make use of the resources and players available at their disposal. Switzerland is no different from Austria, they have the same kind of profile if you ask me, only the flags are different. Too many fans are making this Swiss team something they’re not..I mean, imagine Argentina tying with Qatar at this year’s WC? They have some decent wingers with pace and can be a threat in aerial duels but I haven’t seen anything in this tournament to suggest Argentina should be afraid of them. Respect them? Yes, absolutely.

   I feel the team that wins against the unbeaten Cape Verde will win the 2026 World Cup…In an earlier post I made, I mentioned that higher power intervention will play a big part in these games. The wins against Cape Verde and Egypt were not ”luck,” it was higher power intervention. Seeing Romero and Licha praying on the sidelines during the Cape Verde game and Enzo Fernandes on his knees praying after scoring against Egypt tells me all I need to know. You could see one of the Argentina trainers on his knees praying, Otamendi lifting his hands to the heavens after the goal against Egypt. Seeing Enzo praying brought tears to my eyes, I never knew they were so spiritual. The crying from Scaloni? That’s the only spirit. Messi scores, he gives all glory to God, Not himself, not ‘’I’m back, I’m back,’’ I love this guy. A humble human being, shows a lot of humility towards others yet they’re trying to tarnish his name.

   No one gave Messi and Argentina a chance, at least the so-called experts before a ball was even kicked, so I never cared about FIFA rankings and the 2026 World Cup rankings. The team is up against strong forces. So for every Argentina victory they try to put an asterisk next to the win. Oh, its, ‘’rigged for Argentina.’’ Like most previous winners, they expected Argentina to already be eliminated early. Both Rabiot and Rodri handled the ball in their respective games and no one flooded the zone with conspiracies about the referee decisions. Now, I’m not saying Spain and France were not better, the point is, if these incidents happened in a game featuring Argentina, the anti Argentina chorus would only get louder.

   All the best to Scaloni and the team, I’m done with who should start and who shouldn’t.

   THE HEADLINE THEY ARE AFRAID OF:

   “MESSI BEAT’S EUROPE TO WIN THE WORLD CUP WHILE PLAYING IN THE “RETIREMENT” LEAGUE.”

   • Switzerland beat algeria 2-0 and austria drew 3-3 and was behind 3-2 until 95 minutes.so it’s obvious switzerland stronger than austria and I don’t think austria if faced Columbia could knocked out columbia.switzerland will push us sure.

     • Cape Verde tied with both Spain and Uruguay. Egypt tied with Belgium. Like what are we even discussing here?

       Does it mean Cape Verde is better than Belgium?

       Head to head between both teams; Switzerland winning 12, Austria winning 18, and 10 matches ending in a draw.

2. People keep debating on how we won last world if not because of Scaloni’s master plans. Well, Scaloni provided the answer in his last conference call : he deliberately said that Messi himself changed the plan and shifted to the right when things didn’t work out during the match against Egypt. So without Messi’s reading of that game andd being adaptable, we would be eliminated because the coach had no answer to the problems Egypt created; rather Messi saved the day. This manifestation alone proves that Scaloni this WC has no clue for whatsoever in terms of tactic adaptability, game plan formation, or player selection.

3. Honestly since Argentina aren’t playing as expected in this tournament, my only cope of winning this World Cup is the stat that no European teams has ever won the World Cup in North America and Argentina are the only non European team left

   • The stats require a trend in order to make an assumption, so the question is how many times is the WC held in N. America? Besides European teams have excelled so far compared to other continents.

4. Few random points, based on the all the comments…

   1. 3 man defense will not happen. Its not easy and very risky in a knockout game, unless you have played that year over year.
   2. Nico should start. While he is not a good goal scorer, but he brings energy.
   3. Risk I could take is to play Simone as a right back. I am not sure if Messi and him don’t connect in footballing sense.
   4. If we fall behind again this time its done. Lightning won’t strike twice.
   5. We need an early goal, ideally Julian Alvarez.
   6. Worried about missing penalties, if we get one
   7. Worried about Dibu’s performance
   8. There is a massive PR campaign going on to tarnish Messi and Argentina. 5-12 year kids are growing with the info pumped into their head that Messi was not a great player and he and Argentina won by cheating. Its a focus on future and I can write pages on this.
   9. I really hope we take a very solid 3-0 lead and bring in Barco, Simone and Paz for a few mins.
   10. Worry about Scaloni’s fear. He is not stubborn, but I think he is not brave enough. All critical changes starting with dibu, romero, enzo, julian, maca are all forced or by accident.
   11. Wish we brought Di Maria.

   Lets go and win this, Vamos.

   • 1) Rarely do 3 man defences work anyway. Too predictable in this day and age and get picked off.
     2) Eh prefer him for later in the game or if they. We expect to dominate the ball and should focus on that initial strength. If the Swiss are expected to defend deep against us, there’s no point of Nico. Only when they throw players forward should we try him out.
     3) Our backline’s already not got the tallest players in there. Throwing Simeone as a lightweight at RB isn’t gonna fix much plus we’d be worse of aerially.
     4) Never say never. We’ll throw players forward like last time and it could happen – though Vargas and Embolo up front would be more dangerous than against Egypt.

     10) Scaloni needs balls. Fortune favours the brave. If he’s brave, Mac Allister gets dropped tonight for Paz.
     11) Eh Di Maria was impossible. He was not changing his decision lol – why Soule wasn’t called up or tried? Now THAT deserves an inquiry.

5. Argentina’s 2022 World Cup win gave me something I had carried since the 1990 final. I was only 12 then, but I felt Argentina had been treated unfairly. That feeling stayed with me for more than three decades. In 2022, it finally felt settled. The 1990 final made me a Argentina fan forever.

   After the satisfaction of 2022, I was able to step away from football discussions for a while. I had followed this site since 2012, but after 2022, I no longer felt the same passion.

   Still, football always pulls us back because no other sport creates the same kind of emotion. People react strongly when they feel a team has been treated unfairly. Referees can make mistakes, and even when they do not, decisions can still be seen as favoritism. Argentina is facing that again, especially after the match against Egypt.

   At the same time, support for Argentina around the world has been tarnished recently because of geopolitical issues. We live in a time when information is everywhere, truth or falsehood. People are connected and affected by what happens around. No matter how much we dislike politics and want to keep it away from sports, nothing other than politics influence our lives more.

   Even so, Argentina is still loved by millions, especially across Asia and North Africa. And I am sure that it will continue

6. Personally, I don’t think this is the ideal starting XI against a Swiss side of this quality.

   Switzerland’s biggest strengths are their physicality, pace on the flanks, and aerial presence. If our full-backs get isolated repeatedly, they’ll keep delivering crosses into the box. Against tall forwards, that’s a dangerous game to play.

   We’ve seen this movie before—Egypt exploited our aerial vulnerability, the Netherlands did it in Qatar, and Norway used a similar approach against our arch-rivals. It’s hardly a new blueprint.

   My other concern is balance. This lineup once again places too much of the creative and goalscoring burden on Messi. At this stage of the tournament, expecting him to carry the entire attacking load is asking too much.

   I would rather see a midfield that combines defensive steel with creativity—two players protecting the back line and three capable of progressing the ball and creating chances.

   My preferred XI:

   Dibu

   Cuti – Senesi – Licha

   Paredes – Palacios

   Nico Paz – Mac Allister – Lo Celso

   Messi – Álvarez

   This gives us greater height at the back, better protection in midfield, and, hopefully, reduces our dependence on moments of Messi magic alone. Against Switzerland, structure and balance may prove more valuable than individual brilliance.

   • As much as I like your lineup, no sane coach will make 5 changes to his winning team, especially at this stage. I think, the only change we realistically can do now is someone for DePaul. We don’t have a better option than Molina for RB and I think Scaloni should have integrated young player earlier, as this is not the time to put Paz as starter (he seems to me the next promising option we have).

     This is an old play from Scaloni. He also resisted starting new player before the last World Cup. Thankfully, Enzo and Maca was integrated right before the tournament starts- and they made the real difference. Scaloni missed his chance. If he wins, he will win with this same lineup or leave the tournament. He made his bet wrong with Almada – it should have been Paz.

     • Agreed. His bet with Almada did not work. Almada peaked against Uruguay and Brazil in 2025. From that point onwards it has been a downhill journey for him.

       • Wasn’t Almada playing on the RHS in Messi’s position those games? Surely that’s the reason he excelled since he played on the right?

         Whereas now he’s stifled having to pretend to be a left winger lol

       • It’s not Almada, it’s Simeone. He ruins Argentine footballers.

         We are not having the best Julian Alvarez because he decided to make Julian a defensive midfielder ALL season long. Molina, Nico, Almada all same story.

         No Argentine player should ever play for him again.

         Pochettino as well.

   • As a back 4 that converts into that setup with Palacios starting at RB and then inverting into midfield with Licha at LB it could work. Midfield lacks legs without De Paul though. It still wouldn’t be THAAAAT different from how we play now though – we’d still be relying on dominating the ball as we do now. Though I think we’d still be pretty vulnerable out wide since these players would still crowd the centre tbh. Palacios and Paz defending out wide could be a little problematic, but yh who knows at this point.

   • Palacios in place of out of form Depaul makes more sense! He is more than capable of covering for Messi on the right and give more freedom to Molina to push forward.

7. Messi is the best …
   But even without him like we played against jordan
   Argentina can win against Switzerland without Messi too..
   Alvarez and Lautaro in front
   With Locelso ,Nico Paz ,G.Simeone, Palacios,Senesi and Barco in team

   With messi Alvarez or Lautaro ,paredes ,de Paul ,macca and enzo

   They all are exhausted 😔 😔
   Atleast change 2-3 players
   Use fresh legs..
   Don’t concede goals please

8. I dont know, but for some reason our performance in this WC gives a 1990 & 2014 WC vibes, both runs were defined by grinding, defensive resilience, and moments of individual brilliance rather than dominant, free-flowing football. I dont know if its good or bad. We reached final in both those WCs so it was good right. But couldnt win it thats bad.

   But the defencive resilience is not there this time thats a difference infact a huge difference. Defence wins tournaments…

   • Tbh,i opined to share this thought but I didn’t want to bring negative vibes in this forum.Hence refrained from doing so. I am hopeful that we will reach till the final.After that ,not sure though what’s gonna happen

   • 86 was one man on his own

     • @audie sexton No.it was not.valdano scored 4 goals buruchaga scored 2 and other 3 players scored 1 each.argentina conceded 5 goals in total tournament and only conceded 3 goals before final.maradona didn’t score a single one in the final all 3 scored by others.yes he provided assists but they had to score those chances while lautaro Alvarez etc wasting chances what messi creating.plus Maradona had very solid defence they were not as leaky or shaky like this defence.atleast you need a good defence to progress this argentina doesn’t have that also if not scaloni miraculously make the defence solid.i have no expectation from this team now.anything this team achieve from now on will be bonus

   • More like 2010 Maradona coached argentina vibes.and scaloni not changing anyone i don’t think we will reach final this time if we reach with this team that could be biggest carryjob by messi in world cup history.we should beat switzerland but if we lose to switzerland i will not be surprised

   • No way this is similar to our performance in 2014 in which Argentina had the best defence of that tournament and we barely conceded goals.

9. Have Switzerland never won an international KO match in their modern history (i checked since WC2006) 6 penalty shootouts and 3 defeats (Argentina 0:1, Portugal 1:6 and Sweden 0:1) and only 2/6 won pens. So this team is historically not good enough to win but very difficult to beat them too.

   • Yh apparently the win against Colombia was the first time Switzerland won a World Cup knockout match since eliminating Germany in a World Cup 1938 Round of 16 replay

     • Switzerland didn’t beat Columbia it went to penalties

       • Yh but it’s still their only win in a World Cup KO match. Their record’s been THAT long

10. All teams rotated their 26 players or at least 24 players (considering sub goalies didn’t play). I started to get familiar with all 24 players of teams such as Spain, Belgium, England, Norway, etc. because they played all their subs until this point. Argentina played the same 11 players and their repeated 4 subs, so we utilized only 15 players, leaving out the best of the best warming the bench and cheering for the team.

    • Coach knows exactly when Lo Celso needed..he will play that time…
      Barco can play and surprise us all…
      I still believe there will be a moment for Simeone..

11. Nico paz &barco not going to play in this tournament anymore hard but Truth bith destined to be the golden boot contenders

    • Sorry i mean golden boy contenders

12. I don’t believe…this may be a trap for Switzerland..no news from Argentine camp…no clue..

    Switzerland is not egypt..dont expect another 3 goals comeback…

    Depaul and Molina are weak links…they lost so many balls and..worse in defending…

    I don’t believe in this lineup..

    Enzo and Mac is still in bad form..Enzo’s goal has covered that though..

    Alvarez has improved..still no goal or assist..

    • No body expected 3 goal turn around against egypt either. Its only the heart and determination that kept them alive. Its ok to not be perfect or in form as long as Argentina wins. Its better to play ugly and win than play beautiful and lose.

      • Exactly my thoughts Rahul.Not glorifying european football here,but they just want a win and nothing else. South american teams want some flair in their win,they just don’t want to win but win with some magical goals skills etc

    • I believe it is a trap.

13. Sigh…

    Great… just great

14. 4 men midfield don’t work. We saw that in previous match. We need at least one of 4 who can increase width. Nico or Gioliano would work better

    • Yes, this formation does not work. I knew Scaloni wouldn’t change it, and as for playing Nico Paz, wishful thinking, he will not give him play time unless we are chasing the game in the last 5 minutes and after trying all tricks, then he would ask Paz to go there and make a miracle in the dying minutes.

15. Scaloni is too obsessed with his friends eleven….I mean come on man it is high time to see wing play from the beginning not after going down 2 nil….At least start nico gonzalez from the beginning to force opposition defenders to guard their left side and getting free roaming spaces in the middle for MESSI

16. I would be more surprised if Scaloni actually dropped some of the underperforming players like De Paul or Molina. MacAllister hasn’t done bad in my personal analysis. Enzo and Depaul have been the worse of the lot tbh. Scaloni knows if he drops his starters, that it won’t just mean changes to the starting xi, it means a change in formation and overall game plan as well. He will not change his core group of players or his subs regardless of the opponent!

    If he goes with three at the back, he will need two natural wingers, three midfielders to control possession, and Messi and Alvarez up front. But he seems to have very little trust in Simeone, even though he started every Atletico match up until the semifinals in champions league. And he views Nico more impactful off the bench.

    Switzerland know we’re not the quickest team, and with their height advantage they’ll probably look to play long balls and crosses into the box. Hopefully Scaloni and his staff are anticipating that. The key for Argentina will be to keep possession with four midfielders, stop Switzerland from stringing together 20 pass sequences every attack. Controlling possession means controlling the game and forcing opposition into making errors. The team that makes fewer errors and forces opposition to make more usually wins! And also please score the first goal, otherwise our slow midfielders and error prone defenders will expose our statue keeper!

    Some pundits are giving Switzerland far more favoritism against Argentina than they deserve. They are 100% confident this is our final match of the WC. Colombians were unlucky that their match went to penalties. They created several good chances against this tall Swiss side and could easily have won it in normal time.

    If Argentina get past Swiss team today, I 100% believe we will reach the final. Argentina never loses in the semis of a WC regardless of the opposition.

    • I hope we finish the game under 90

      • Not with this line up. Same story same cast. Switzerland studied the input of this formation and the movement of each individual. We are gifting them the match.

17. Probable lineup reported by Tyc Sports:
    Emiliano Martínez ; Nahuel Molina or Gonzalo Montiel , Cristian Romero , Lisandro Martínez , Nicolás Tagliafico ; Rodrigo De Paul , Enzo Fernández , Leandro Paredes , Alexis Mac Allister or Nicolás González ; Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez
    Note: Montiel is 1 yellow card away from suspension in the next round.

    • If it’s between Mac Allister or Gonzalez, it’s best Alexis starts. Refusal to throw Nico Paz in is just sad

18. :facepalm:

19. DePaul needs to go. So does Maca. I have no issues giving them minutes but we have better options. Take any two of Barco, Paz, Simeone. In DePaul’s case, he just doesn’t pass well or run anywhere what he used to. In the case of Maca, he has not been in form for a long time.
    I am getting tired of people overlooking us. Only one of France/Spain advance. There’s still Norway, England, Switzerland, and Argentina. These so called experts just act like these four teams are there to get pounded by whomever advances. If Morocco weren’t such chicken shits playing, and if Hakimi could make a cross on target or goal, maybe things would be different. But Hakimi shot is so bad I am beginning to think he is blind. Nothing will be sweeter if we repeat.

    • Hakimi doesn’t play well against France deliberately not coincidence

20. I hope this is just a rumour like, for real. Maybe just maybe, Scaloni’s playing 4D chess, making people into believing that this will be starting 11 because the media will spread this information. Hope there’s a shocking changeor two, as it happened before back then.

    • Yes

21. In the 80s my family used to get hate travelling abroad for the Argentina shirt. I was very young and oblivious to it to be honest.
    In the 90s-2010s I would get hate when I was in the states or in Europe, but North Africa used to always give the Argentina shirt love when I was in morroco, Tunisia, Egypt etc.
    Now, 2026, present time, I have never felt so much hate and verbal abuse.
    I was shopping yesterday to prepare for today’s asado, wearing 1998 jersey, I had multiple people say to me things such as “are you proud to have VAR on your side” and “I hope argentina crashes out”.
    It’s become very intense to wear the holy Albeceleste jersey out in public now. And I own 9 Argentina shirts let alone my river plate shirts.
    I was hoping to make this a funny comment, and say I have enough shirts to wear one for each day of week, but I have to say that I am sad.
    Anyways, we are still going to cook today and still going to put on our Alvarez jersey as he is scoring tonight God willing.

    • SorinXcrespO, my brother you and I are exactly in the same boat.
      I have said many times prior to the WC that ARG is the most hated footballing nation on the planet, matter of fact have been saying the same thing around here forever, the level of envy, jealousy, hatred, FALSE narratives, political innuendos (you and I come from the same place so you understand that perfectly), disgusting lies….etc My OWN sister who never watched a football game in her life, doesn’t know football from Mickey Mouse was talking nonsense to me after the win about how ARG cheated, Politically motivated blah blah blah…off course her hubby has been butthurt for a while because his sorry ass Brazil has been trash since they CHEATED us in the 2020 COPA and would fill her head with nonsense to make himself feel better.

      I stopped at QT Thursday morning for coffee and off course I am wearing my absolute favorite ARG Jersey 1986 Maradona and I hear Messi, he’s the Opps, I turned around and looked at him and I was about to say, It’s Maradona dummy but wasn’t worth my time.

      People are STUPID plain and simple, motivated by stupidity, envy, hatred, Crynaldo fans…….it’s like HATERS of Messi/ Argentina Unite choosing whatever narratives to feed their story.
      I’ve been an ARGENTINA fan for more than 41 years and will always show my love and support and they can all kiss my ass, friend or foe.

    • I attended the Spain vs. Belgium quarterfinal wearing my Albiceleste jersey. After the match, as I was leaving the stadium, a group of Spanish supporters walking behind me started shouting “F Argentina” and “F Messi.” They got right up in my face and kept repeating it.

      I didn’t back down. I turned around and gave it right back to them. They eventually moved on, and so did I. That’s football passionate fans, heated moments, and rivalries.

    • If you hadnt notice they have been hated always and every team is there rival and ts a huge part of there greatness embrace it

      I was 14 when Diego gave the greatest athletical performance in human history ALLLLL SPORTS. Told everyone you cannot stop what’s coming in English

      I was spat on big greenies by a foljlsnds paratrooper 7 feet tall killer

      I went home washed my shirt watched Argentina run went to his pub sat in front of him and told him I YOLD YOU what WOULD HAPPEN.

      Feed of the hate like Scaloni does like cuti does like parades does

      Drink it feel it’s power

      Holland Germany England uragay brasil France no one has more rivals than Argentina

22. Scaloni,,
    You didn’t learn anything from the Egypt match,, maybe you were mad.. I am sure today is our last worldcup match..!!

    Switzerland is a physical Strong team. They play quick pass and there average height is 185.2 c.m.. Your selected four defender avarage height is 176.75 c.m..

    The four midfielders he wants to play are all slow and lose the ball when pressed too easily..
    The team crying for nice paz. Simeone, Barco, lo celso and palcios.. You remember me 2006 pekerman..

    • The rumoured starting 11 is just to mislead media and the opponents at the same time.Wait for the surprises just 1 hour before the announcement of Starting 11

23. Remember the comics section in newspapers when people used to read papers, well in today’s edition, cryNaldo positing a pic of lifting the EUROs trophy in 2016 as if that wasn’t funny enough since he contributed ZERO to that win and even funnier their 71 senile new Portuguese manager saying that her highness will feature in the next WC LMAO.
    We might advance to the final or not, we might win it or not, and off course I hope they come out a winner but seeing that pitiful joker getting knocked out and Brazil yet again OUT has given me a great JOY and satisfaction.

24. Playing with Molina and De Paul means it will be like us playing with 9 players. Same mistakes again and again and again. Only more Messi magic can save us. No one to stretch or carry the ball. The team is dying for Barco or Lo Celso or Paz.

25. I have a feeling that Scaloni will change up things quicker and earlier this time around if things don’t improve toward the end of the half or immediately in the 2nd.

26. Same

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