The Argentine national soccer team presented on Monday the official pre-list of 55 players for the 2026 World Cup, which includes the usual stars, several new faces and some important absences, and from which the 26 players selected for the defense of the title won in Qatar 2022 will emerge.
Lionel Scaloni’s list, headed by Lionel Messi and including stars such as Julián Alvarez and Emiliano Martínez, has as main novelties several young players from local soccer, such as River Plate goalkeeper Santiago Beltrán and Boca Juniors midfielder Tomás Aranda.
Dybala left out, Scaloni surprises with promising youngsters
Among those absent from Argentina’s 2026 World Cup squad are West Ham striker Valentín Castellanos and Roma striker Paulo Dybala.
Ángel Correa, of Mexican side Tigres, and Enzo Barrenechea, of Portuguese side Benfica, were also not included.
Other surprises include Getafe defender Zaid Romero and youngsters Lautaro di Lollo and Milton Delgado -both from Boca Juniors-.
Girona attacker Claudio ‘Diablito’ Echeverri and Parma midfielder Mateo Pellegrino.
Another name that stands out in Scaloni’s pre-list is Gianluca Prestianni, although in this case not because of his inexperience in the ‘Albiceleste’.
But for the two-match suspension he will have to serve in the World Cup -if he is called up-, as a result of an insult to Brazilian Vinícius Junior during a Champions League match between Benfica and Real Madrid.
Scaloni bets on new figures
In addition to the core of players who played in the South American qualifiers, partly made up of the team that won in Qatar, there are a number of new players.
Although they did not have many minutes, it is presumed that they could fight for a place in the final roster.
Like Franco Mastantuono of Real Madrid and Alejandro Garnacho of Chelsea.
The biggest question marks, however, are in the defensive zone.
Scaloni still has to consolidate alternatives at both fullbacks and at the back.
This explains the large number of players in that area of the field included in Argentina’s pre-list for the 2026 World Cup.
Argentina will play the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada in Group J, where they will face Algeria, Austria and Jordan.
Complete list of 55 preselected
Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa-GBR), Gerónimo Rulli (Olympique de Marseille-FRA), Juan Musso (Atlético de Madrid-ESP), Walter Benítez (Crystal Palace-GBR), Facundo Cambeses (Racing Club) and Santiago Beltrán (River Plate).
Defenders: Agustín Giay (Palmeiras-BRA), Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate), Nahuel Molina (Atlético de Madrid-ESP), Nicolás Capaldo (Hamburg SV-GER), Kevin Mac Allister (Union Saint-Gilloise-BEL), Lucas Martínez Quarta (River Plate-ARG), Marcos Senesi (Bournemouth-GBR), Lisandro Martínez (Manchester United-GBR), Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica-POR), Germán Pezzella (River Plate).
Leonardo Balerdi (Olympique de Marseille-FRA), Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur-GBR), Lautaro Di Lollo (Boca Juniors), Zaid Romero (Getafe-ESP), Facundo Medina (Olympique de Marseille-FRA), Marcos Acuña (River Plate), Nicolás Tagliafico (Olympique de Lyon-FRA) and Gabriel Rojas (Racing Club).
It features the usual star soccer players
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Midfielders: Maximo Perrone (Como-ITA), Leandro Paredes (Boca Juniors), Guido Rodriguez (Valencia-ESP), Anibal Moreno (River Plate), Milton Delgado (Boca Juniors), Alan Varela (Porto-POR), Ezequiel Fernández (Bayer Leverkusen-GER), Rodrigo De Paul (Inter Miami-USA), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen-GER), Enzo Fernández (Chelsea-GBR), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool-GBR), Giovani Lo Celso (Real Betis-ESP).
Nicolás Domínguez (Nottingham Forest-GBR), Emiliano Buendía (Aston Villa-GBR), Valentín Barco (Strasbourg-FRA), Thiago Almada (Atlético de Madrid-ESP), Giuliano Simeone (Atlético de Madrid-ESP), Matías Soulé (AS Roma-ITA), Gianluca Prestianni (Benfica-POR), Tomás Aranda (Boca Juniors), Nicolás González (Atlético de Madrid-ESP), Nicolás Paz (Como-ITA) and Franco Mastantuono (Real Madrid-ESP).
Forwards: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami-USA), Claudio Echeverri (Girona-ESP), Alejandro Garnacho (Chelsea-GBR), Santiago Castro (Bologna-ITA), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan-ITA), José Manuel López (Palmeiras-BRA), Julián Alvarez (Atlético de Madrid-ESP) and Mateo Pellegrino (Parma-ITA).
With information from EFE
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