Team Dossier: Argentina — the champions who refuse to hand it back

Four years ago, Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup on a suffocating night in Lusail. Now he is 38 years old, playing in MLS, nursing a hamstring that has kept him out of training drills, and somehow Argentina are still the favorites to win the whole thing again. That tells you everything you need to know about this squad — and nothing at all about whether they actually will.

Lionel Scaloni has named a 26-man group built around the 2022 core, with a few new names added and a couple of painful absentees.1

Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa) is the first choice — arguably the best keeper at this tournament based on his Qatar heroics and the Golden Glove he won there. His psychological games in penalty shootouts have become genuinely famous at this point.

Defense: The center-back question is the only real anxiety in this squad. Cristián Romero (Tottenham) is the aggressive, ball-winning type Scaloni built his defensive identity around. Lisandro Martínez (Man United) was the preferred partner — quality on the ball, calm in possession — but a calf injury has kept him out of the pre-tournament window, and Marcos Senesi has been deputizing. Nicolás Otamendi is the veteran option. Nahuel Molina (Atlético Madrid) at right-back is one of the more dangerous attacking full-backs at this tournament; Nicolás Tagliafico balances him on the left.

Midfield: This is where Argentina are genuinely stacked. Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool) and Rodrigo De Paul (Atlético Madrid) are undroppable. De Paul is the engine — the guy who covers the most ground, wins the most second balls, and makes the press function. Mac Allister provides composure and smart movement. Enzo Fernández (Chelsea) brings the quality to be the third midfielder, though Thiago Almada (Lyon) has made a strong case in recent months.1

Attack: Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan) was the top scorer at the 2024 Copa América and should lead the line. He missed the March window with injury, which is worth monitoring. Julián Álvarez (Atlético Madrid) plays as the pressing, hustling second forward — his work rate was a key reason Argentina won in 2022. And then there is Messi.

Argentina's system is nominally a 4-3-3 but the shape shifts constantly. In possession it often becomes a 3-2-5, with a center-back stepping up and a full-back tucking inside to create midfield overloads. Out of possession, they drop into a compact 4-4-2 and try to win the ball back within three seconds of losing it.2

Messi's role in this is its own thing entirely. He does not press. He does not track runs. He occupies a pocket of space roughly 20 yards from goal, conserves energy, and then does something that changes the game. His positioning alone forces defenders to stay honest, which opens gaps for Fernández and Mac Allister to exploit with late runs. In qualifying — 12 appearances, eight goals — he did that mostly without sprinting, entirely from that same quiet pocket.2

The question heading into June is whether he can do it at all. Messi picked up a left hamstring problem during an Inter Miami match in late May. The medical staff and Scaloni say they expect him ready for the June 16 opener against Algeria. He may skip the warm-up friendlies to protect the muscle. If he plays, the whole team reorients around him. If he does not, Scaloni has shown — notably in the first half against Mauritania in March, when Enzo Fernández scored from a Molina cross and Nico Paz curled a free kick off the wall — that Argentina can function.3

Group J also features Algeria (CAF qualifier, first World Cup since 2014), Austria (back at the tournament after 28 years under Ralf Rangnick's pressing system) and Jordan (first-ever World Cup appearance, ranked 66th in the world).5 On paper Argentina wins this group. The real question is whether Austria sneaks second or Algeria's attacking firepower — Riyad Mahrez, Mohammed Amoura, Amine Gouiri — catches them off-guard.

Three titles: 1978 (host), 1986 (Maradona), 2022 (Messi). The gap between the second and third was 36 years — long enough that Messi's generation grew up watching Argentina lose finals in 2014, 2015 and 2016 before finally winning. The 2022 title was not just a result; it was the end of a decades-long psychological weight. Whether that kind of relief can be replicated or whether it actually makes the squad complacent is the question nobody can answer yet.5

Can a 38-year-old with a hamstring problem and a Tuesday night MLS schedule defend a World Cup?

In Messi's case, probably yes — because his game no longer depends on being the fastest man on the pitch. He never sprints. He rarely tracks back. His contribution is ten seconds of decision-making that nobody else on earth can replicate. The hamstring concern is real and worth watching, but Scaloni has already shown the team can score without him. The more interesting risk is knockout-round football: when the margins shrink and one missed moment decides a match, Argentina will need him to be there.

Quote of the Day: "We know what it feels like to be champions. And we are coming to defend it." — Rodrigo De Paul, May 2026