Julián Álvarez has reportedly signed a new contract with Manchester City.

Álvarez has put pen to paper and signed an improved contract with the club. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Argentine signed a deal in Manchester on Thursday and the contract is until June 2028 with an improved salary.

The 23 year old signed with the reigning league champions in January 2022 from River Plate but played his first match with the club in July. He has since gone on to score in every competition and won the World Cup with the Argentina national team.

He has played 33 matches with the club, scoring 10 goals.

Lionel Scaloni has been named the South American Coach of the Year.

Prestigious media outlet El País has announced that Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni has been named as the South American Coach of the Year, and by some distance. The award is given annualy and Scaloni finished ahead of Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira.

Scaloni received 107 votes as Ferreira received 35 votes. Winning the FIFA World Cup and the Finalissima in 2022, Scaloni was also named as FIFA The Best Men’s Coach of the Year, having won the award last month.

His reign as Argentina coach will continue with two friendly matches this month.

The schedule has been announced for CONMEBOL’s South American 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Argentina will play six World Cup qualifying matches in 2023 as CONMEBOL have released the entire fixture list for every team. The reigning World Cup champions will play two matches in September, two in October and two in November.

Lionel Scaloni’s team will start at home against Ecuador before playing away against Bolivia. After that comes a home match vs. Paraguay and away vs. Peru in October.

November will have matches against historic rivals. The first will be at home against Uruguay and the second is away against Brazil.

World Cup qualifying will be put on hold until September 2024 where Argentina will host Chile and after that away against Colombia. They continue in October with an away match against Venezuela and at home vs. Bolivia.

It will continue in November away against Paraguay and at home against Peru. In March 2025, it restarts away against Uruguay and at home against Brazil.

Qualifying will continue in June as they will be away vs. Chile and at home vs. Colombia. It will conclude in September 2025 at home against Venezuela and the last match will be away vs. Ecuador.

🚨 CONMEBOL South American 2026 World Cup qualifiers confirmed! Argentina’s matches: 🇦🇷

📍September:
1. Home vs. Ecuador 🇪🇨
2. Away vs. Bolivia 🇧🇴

📍 October:
3. Home vs. Paraguay 🇵🇾
4. Away vs. Peru 🇵🇪

📍 November:
5. Home vs. Uruguay 🇺🇾
6. Away vs Brazil 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/cg0kXIdV88

— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) March 15, 2023

The South American 2026 World Cup qualifiers are set to start in September.

A meeting between the 10 South American football associations will be held on Wednesday and the topic of the World Cup qualifiers is expected to be confirmed. According to Fernando Czyz, there could be six World Cup qualifiying matches this year.

World Cup qualifiers would begin in September with two matches and two more in October and November.