Argentina’s World Cup Defence: A Familiar Roll Call
Argentina’s World Cup defence begins not with a bold new era, but with a familiar roll call.
The world champions stepped off the plane in Kansas City looking much the same as they did in Qatar. Seventeen of Lionel Scaloni’s 26-man squad were there when Argentina lifted the trophy in 2022. Of the XI who started that epic final against France in Lusail, only Ángel Di María is missing, having walked away from the national team on the high of being named Player of the Match in the 2024 Copa America final.
Continuity has become Scaloni’s calling card. It has also become his biggest gamble.
A golden core, an ageing spine
The numbers tell the story of a manager who trusts his men. Sixteen players in this current group were part of the side that ended Argentina’s long trophy drought at the 2021 Copa America. That level of stability is unmatched among the other heavyweights. Brazil have retained just 11 players from their squad of five years ago, three of them goalkeepers. England, from the Euro 2021 finalists, are down to nine.
Argentina, by contrast, have built a brotherhood. A group that has lived together, suffered together, and won everything together over the past five years.
Now comes the bill.
Nine members of this squad are on the wrong side of 30. Key figures such as Emiliano Martínez, Rodrigo De Paul and, of course, Lionel Messi – who will turn 39 during this, his record sixth World Cup – are being asked to go again. At the other end, only three players are under 25: Giuliano Simeone, Valentín Barco and Nico Paz. The likes of Franco Mastantuono and Alejandro Garnacho have been left at home.
The average age sits north of 29. That might not matter in a one-off final. Across a month of high-intensity football, it can become a problem very quickly.
Legs, miles and warning signs
It is not just the birth certificates that worry Argentina’s staff. It is the mileage.
Many of Scaloni’s core players have barely stopped since 2021. On top of the 2024 Copa America, 11 of them then went to the Club World Cup last summer. For some, it has been three straight seasons with no real breather.
Since the start of the 2024-25 campaign, Enzo Fernández and Julián Álvarez have each played 121 games for club and country. One hundred and twenty-one. It is little wonder Atlético Madrid had to nurse Álvarez through the final weeks of their season as he battled an ankle issue. Fernández, in peak physical condition at 25, has covered an enormous amount of ground. At some point, even he will feel it.
Alexis Mac Allister already has.
The Liverpool midfielder, who did not even have the extra burden of the Club World Cup, has still racked up 119 appearances over the past two seasons. His form has dipped sharply. He is still expected to start Argentina’s opener against Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium on Tuesday, but his club performances over the past nine months suggest he will be under intense scrutiny.
When Liverpool lost to Manchester City in February, former winger Jermaine Pennant voiced what many were thinking. Speaking to TalkSport after criticising Mac Allister on social media, he said: “I was watching the game and I was frustrated and I tweeted… I was angry. It was constructive angry… I touched on that, ‘after your injury in pre-season, you’ve come back a shadow of what you are; it seems like your legs have gone’. In that [City] game, he was literally a bystander, he didn’t really get into it at all and that’s what I touched on, it was an observation.”
That observation now hangs over Argentina’s midfield.
Scaloni doubles down on his old guard
Scaloni, though, is not blinking. He is set to lean again on the core that has never failed him on the big stage.
Seven of the starters from the 2022 World Cup final are expected to be in the XI against Algeria. That figure might have reached 10 had Álvarez, Nicolás Tagliafico and Nahuel Molina not arrived with minor injuries.
Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Fernández, De Paul, Mac Allister and Messi are all set to reprise their roles. Lautaro Martínez, fresh from winning the Golden Boot at the 2024 Copa America, will step in for Álvarez up front. This is a team that knows how to suffer, how to manage games, how to close out tournaments.
But can it still outrun, outpress and outlast the best in the world? Or does Scaloni need to inject risk – and youth – if Argentina are to go deep again?
The answer may lie in the decisions he is making at full-back.
Barco waits, Lisandro steps in
With Tagliafico sidelined, the obvious choice at left-back would be Valentín Barco. The Strasbourg defender, heavily tipped to join Chelsea this summer, has impressed in recent friendlies. He has scored in two of Argentina’s last three games, operating slightly higher up the pitch, but left-back is his natural role. At 21, his energy and willingness to drive forward would add a burst of life to an ageing side.
Instead, Scaloni is preparing to hand the job to Lisandro Martínez.
The Manchester United defender is a superb one-on-one marker and a natural organiser, and he will be tasked with keeping Algeria’s veteran star Riyad Mahrez quiet. Defensively, it makes sense. But Martínez is a centre-back by trade. He will not offer the same thrust or width as Barco. The choice sums up Scaloni’s instincts: secure first, adventurous second.
On the opposite flank, youth will be used out of necessity rather than design. Giuliano Simeone is expected to start at right-back, an unfamiliar role for the forward. With Molina and Gonzalo Montiel still building fitness after recent injuries, Simeone will be asked to patch the position until at least one of the specialists is ready for more than a late cameo.
It is an improvisation born of circumstance, not a grand plan for renewal.
The Paz question
If there is a symbol of Argentina’s potential changing of the guard, it is Nico Paz.
The 21-year-old has lit up Serie A over the past two seasons with Como. Under the guidance of Cesc Fàbregas, he scored 13 goals and provided seven assists this season, driving a club that was only promoted in 2024 to a remarkable fourth-place finish and Champions League qualification. He was named Best Midfielder at Serie A’s end-of-season awards. There is a strong belief that Real Madrid will trigger the buy-back clause in his contract this summer.
Paz plays with a freedom that jumps off the screen. He sees passes others do not, takes risks in possession, and brings a level of exuberance that stands in stark contrast to Mac Allister’s laboured recent outings. He is, in many ways, exactly what this Argentina midfield looks like it needs.
For now, he will likely start the tournament on the bench, his minutes limited initially by a minor knee issue he has been managing. But if Argentina labour in possession or look short of spark between the lines, Scaloni will face a familiar choice: trust in the old guard, or throw a young talent into the fire.
He has done it before. In Qatar, the decision to introduce a then 21-year-old Enzo Fernández midway through the group stage changed the trajectory of the entire tournament. That bold call helped turn a vulnerable side into champions.
The question is whether Scaloni is ready to be that ruthless again.
A treacherous path and a looming showdown
The route ahead offers little margin for error. Win Group J, ahead of Algeria, Austria and Jordan, and Argentina will likely face the runners-up from Group H in the round of 32 – potentially Spain, though Uruguay look the more probable opponent at this stage. Come through that, and a last-16 tie against the runners-up from Group D (currently Australia) or Group G (with Belgium, Egypt and Iran in the mix) looks manageable on paper.
Then the difficulty spikes.
If the seedings hold, Portugal await in the quarter-finals. That would mean Messi versus Cristiano Ronaldo, one last time, on the World Cup stage. A meeting soaked in history, ego, and finality.
By then, Scaloni must know his best team. Not the team that won in 2022. The team that can win in 2026.
It may still be built around Messi, Martínez, De Paul and Fernández. But if Argentina are serious about giving their captain the send-off his career deserves, there is every chance it will also include one or two of the kids currently watching, waiting, and wondering when their moment will finally arrive.
