Scaloni’s new-look Argentina to welcome Chile

World champions Argentina will host Chile tomorrow morning (6am, Bangladesh time) in a 2026 World Cup South American Qualifiers match at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires.

The Albiceleste have won five of six qualifiers and are coming off a successful defense of their Copa America crown.

Chile, on the other hand, have won just once through six qualifiers and are out of the seventh-place playoff spot on goal differential and two points back of sixth-place Brazil.

Coach Lionel Scaloni will present a team without captain Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria after a long time. The two significant absences force the World Cup winning coach to think about a renewed composition of the national team.

Without Messi, who is in the final stretch of his recovery from ankle injury he had sustained during Copa America final, and without Di Maria, who retired from the national team after winning the 2024 Copa América, the figure of Dibu Martinez as the standard-bearer guarding the three sticks is a fixed one.

With centre-back Cristian Romero as another stable figure in the starting eleven, his partner will likely be Nicolas Otamendi. 

Meanwhile, Lisandro Martinez could be the one to occupy the role of left wingback, although coach Scaloni had also opted for Marcos Acuna in the role. On the right side of defense, Nahuel Molina seems to be the frontrunner ahead of Gonzalo Montiel. 

In the middle of the pitch, Rodrigo De Paul and Alexis Mac Allister are a regular fixture in the nerve centre of the playing field, while Enzo Fernandez seems to be the one who makes up that triangle, winning the fight against Leandro Paredes.  

Finally, in the offensive aspect, there are various doubts and alternatives. With the loss of Di Maria, Nicolas Gonzalez would arrive as a strong alternative to replace him, but there is Alejandro Garnacho to consider.

However, to replace Lionel Messi the choice is more complex. For this, Paulo Dybala could be an alternative to start, but it is more feasible that Scaloni breaks the attacking trident by deploying four midfielders, with Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez as the two forwards.