Argentina will play Chile in a World Cup qualifier on Thursday night where it is the first placed team in these South American World Cup qualifiers against the last placed team.

Lionel Scaloni’s team in Chile for Thursday’s match where they will play a 9:00 pm kick off time. This is their second match of the 2026 South American World Cup qualifiers, Argentina won the first won 3-0 back in September.

The reigning World Cup champions have a +18 goal difference, having scored 26 goals in the World Cup qualifiers, the most of any team. Lionel Messi leads the goals with six while Chile have scored only nine goals, the second lowest in these qualifiers behind only Peru who have six.

With 31 points, Argentina have already qualified for the 2026 World Cup and are eight points ahead of second placed Ecuador who have 23 points. Chile are in last place with 10 points, tied with Peru but behind on goal difference.

No matter the result, Argentina will remain in first place where as Chile desperately need a win or their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup would be close to coming to an end.

Scaloni is going to make changes to the starting eleven with several players missing due to suspensions and injuries. Giovani Lo Celso and Alexis Mac Allister are out due to injury while Leandro Paredes, Enzo Fernández, Nicolás González and Nicolás Otamendi will miss the match due to yellow card suspension.

Julián Álvarez, Giuliano Simeone and Leonardo Balerdo are all set to start with one of Nico Paz or Thiago Almada set to feature in the starting eleven. Here is the rumored eleven:

Emiliano Martínez; Tagliafico, Balerdi, Romero, Molina; Almada or Paz, De Paul, Palacios, Simeone; Messi and Álvarez

Here are the different kick off times for the match:

Thursday:
United States, Canada: 6:00 pm Pacific
United States, Canada: 9:00 pm Eastern
Argentina: 10:00 pm

Friday:
Ghana: 1:00 am
Scotland, England, Nigeria: 2:00 am
Spain, France, South Africa: 3:00 am
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar: 4:00 am
Iran: 4:30 am
United Arab Emirates, Oman: 5:00 am
Afghanistan: 5:30 am
Pakistan: 6:00 am
India, Sri Lanka: 6:30 am
Nepal: 6:45 am
Bangladesh: 7:00 am
Indonesia, Vietnam: 8:00 am
Malaysia, Singapore, China: 9:00 am
South Korea, Japan: 10:00 am
Australia: 11:00 am
New Zealand: 1:00 pm

Lionel Messi leads all of the 2026 South American World Cup qualifiers in goals and Argentina have 11 different goal scorers.

Messi has scored six goals in the 2026 South American World Cup qualifiers, the top scorer, one ahead of Miguel Terceros of Bolivia and Raphinha of Brazil, who have five goals each. Messi scored in the first match against Ecuador, two against Peru and a hat trick against Bolivia.

Julián Álvarez, Lautaro Martínez and Nicolás Otamendi have each scored three goals. For Álvarez, he scored against Chile, Bolivia and Brazil. Lautaro scored against Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru. Otamendi had one against Paraguay, one against Brazil and one against Venezuela.

Thiago Almada, Enzo Fernández, Nicolás González and Alexis Mac Allister are on two goals each. Almada scored against Bolivia and Uruguay. Enzo had one against Bolivia and one against Brazil. González had one against Bolivia and one against Colombia. Mac Allister had one against Chile and one against Brazil.

Paulo Dybala, Giuliano Simeone and Nicolás Tagliafico have each scored one goal. Dybala was against Chile, Simeone against Brazil and Tagliafico against Bolivia.

In contrast, their opponent in Thursday’s World Cup qualifying match, Chile, they have only scored nine goals.

Julián Álvarez, Giuliano Simeone and Leonardo Balerdo are set to start for Argentina against Chile.

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni spoke at a press conference on Wednesday and he had stated that there will be changes to the team for the World Cup qualifying match against Chile on Thursday. Scaloni mentioned that Lautaro Martínez will not be playing.

With Nicolás Otamendi suspended due to yellow card accumulation and with no Lautaro Martínez playing, that opens the door for other players. According to Gastón Edul, Julián Álvarez will unsurprisingly be the striker with Giuliano Simeone also in the starting eleven.

With no Nicolás Otamendi, it is Leonardo Balerdi who will start, presumably alongside Cristian Romero. Thiago Almada also has some chances to start as it appears to between himself and Nico Paz in the team.

The Argentina national team have landed in Chile and Nico Paz is set to start Thursday’s match.

Reigning World Cup champions Argentina are in Santiago for Thursday’s World Cup qualifying match and increasing reports have Nico Paz in the starting eleven. Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni will be without several players and that has opened the door for the 20 year old to start.

Lionel Scaloni spoke about the absences at a press conference on Wednesday before the game.

Argentina’s head coach Lionel Scaloni spoke on Wednesday at a press conference ahead of Thursday’s World Cup qualifier against Chile in Santiago.

Scaloni surprised many by admitting that he is still unsure whether Lionel Messi is fully fit, and that the coaching staff is still evaluating whether he will start:

“We haven’t decided yet if he’ll start the match. It would be good to know how he’s doing physically. It’s clear that we’re in a position now where we can try other things. Initially, he’s ready to play — but we’ll assess. He had a good match last Saturday. For now, he’s available, and we’ll make a final decision soon.”

With several players suspended or injured, assembling the starting eleven hasn’t been easy. Scaloni commented on the situation:

“There will be a lot of absences, especially in the midfield. I haven’t confirmed the lineup yet because that will depend on training. But we’ll give a chance to players who haven’t had many minutes. It’s their moment to play.”

He also addressed the broader approach to the match:

“The result is always important, but right now we believe it’s not the most crucial thing. We’ll aim for the players to gel and have the chance to gain experience with the national team.”

On the absence of Alexis Mac Allister and Giovani Lo Celso, Scaloni explained:

“Alexis was on the list, but he’s been dealing with some lingering issues over the past year. We decided with him that it was best to rest. Fortunately, we’re not in a position where we need to take risks with players, so we agreed he should recover fully for what’s ahead. That’s why we called up Barrenechea and Buendía.”

“Lo Celso also arrived with an issue and likely won’t feature in either of the two matches. We need to focus on getting him back to full fitness.”

On Lautaro Martínez:

“I just saw Lautaro now. We spoke briefly, and I’ll talk more with him later. He’s here, he’ll travel with the team, but he won’t be playing. We had already agreed that he would take these days off — well deserved. He’s still part of the squad, that’s for sure.”

On Ángel Di María’s return to Rosario Central:

“It’s a joy to see him return to Argentine football. He’s a hero to so many people, not just fans of Rosario Central. Having a player of his caliber back is going to be something spectacular. It’s not only good for Argentine football but also for him — for his heart, his soul, to feel a bit more love. I’m very happy.”

Finally, on the potential Finalissima against Spain:

“I don’t know anything about it. We know this year is complicated. Next year? I don’t know — there’s the World Cup. We’ll see what decision the people who actually decide things make — because we don’t have much say. I don’t have any information.”