The 2026 FIFA World Cup, set to take place across the United States, Mexico, and Canada, will feature 48 teams, with defending champions Argentina targeting back-to-back glory. Head coach Lionel Scaloni has now lifted the curtain on his vision for the Albiceleste squad, his recent meeting with captain Lionel Messi, and preparations for the global showpiece.
Scaloni recently sat down with Messi, describing the encounter as calm yet revealing. Speaking at the Argentine Football Association (AFA) studio, the World Cup-winning coach said:
“𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑳𝒆𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒆. 𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒙𝒆𝒅—𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎. 𝑨 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅.”
Despite the high-profile meeting, Scaloni made it clear that Messi’s World Cup future was not discussed.
“𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.”
Argentina Squad Planning, Young Talent, and Group Analysis
Scaloni confirmed that Argentina has already prepared an expanded 50-man provisional list, citing lessons from the previous World Cup, where injuries disrupted selections.
“𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.”
The coach also addressed transfer speculation involving Thiago Almada and Valentin Carboni, stressing that club decisions won’t affect national team chances.
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃. 𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅.”
Looking ahead to the group stage, Scaloni warned that Argentina’s opponents should not be underestimated.
“𝑨𝒍𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔.”
Concluding his remarks, Scaloni emphasized trust in the current squad structure, noting that peak fitness at the right moment will be decisive as the tournament approaches.
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