Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni has announced his line-up for Thursday’s World Cup qualifying match against Chile and Nico Paz starts.
Lionel Scaloni starts Leonardo Balerdi, Exequiel Palacios, Thiago Almada and Nico Paz against Chile. Lionel Messi starts on the bench with Cristian Romero as captain. Here is the starting eleven:
Emiliano Martínez; Molina, Romero, Balerdi, Tagliafico; Simeone, De Paul, Palacios, Almada; Nico Paz and Julián Álvarez.
The bench: 1: Walter Benítez 12: Gerónimo Rulli 2: Juan Foyth 4: Kevin Lomónaco 5: Enzo Barrenechea 8: Emiliano Buendía 10: Lionel Messi 15: Facundo Medina 19: Valentín Barco 20: Franco Mastantuono 21: Ángel Correa 22: Lautaro Martínez
Mariano Troilo and Giovani Lo Celso do not make the bench for Argentina.
Franco Mastantuono will join Real Madrid from River Plate with a contract already in place.
Mastantuono is set to join Real Madrid. According to Gastón Edul, the 17 year old is going to join Real Madrid with both Madrid and River Plate outlining the payment method which will be resolved.
It is almost impossible for Mastantuono to stay at River Plate until December and it will be the highest sale in Argentine football history.
He is presently with the Argentina national team for their two World Cup qualifying matches.
Cristian Romero will captain Argentina against Chile.
Romero has been picked as the captain for Argentina with both Lionel Messi and Nicolás Otamendi not in the starting eleven. According to Gastón Edul, the Argentina national team coaching staff have picked Cristian Romero as the captain for the World Cup qualifying match against Chile on Thursday.
Lionel Messi will start Argentina’s World Cup qualifying match against Chile on the bench but Nico Paz will be in the starting eleven.
Messi will not start for Argentina but is expected to play. According to Gastón Edul, Messi will play for Argentina but off the bench. He is set to start for Argentina against Colombia next Tuesday.
Nico Paz is going to be in the Argentina starting eleven. Here is the rumored line-up:
Emiliano Martínez; Molina, Romero, Balerdi, Tagliafico; Simeone, De Paul, Palacios, Almada; Nico Paz and Julián Álvarez.
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.
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.
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
