3 March 2025
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has named a preliminary 33-man squad led by Lionel Messi for the South American qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil. The list includes young talent Claudio Echeverri, who recently joined Manchester City after playing for Argentina in the South American Under-20 Championship. Scaloni also selected other players under the age of 21, such as Nicolas Paz, Benjamin Dominguez and Santiago Castro.
Argentina will visit Uruguay at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo on March 21, and four days later the World Cup champions will host eternal rivals Brazil at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires.
The selected list is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Geronimo Rulli (Olympique de Marseille), Walter Benitez (PSV Eindhoven).
Defenders: Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), German Pezzella (River Plate), Leonardo Balerdi (Olympique de Marseille), Juan Foyth (Villarreal), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Facundo Medina (Lens), Nicolas Tagliafico (Olympique Lyonnais), Francisco Ortega (Olympiacos).
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes (Roma), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea), Rodrigo De Paul (Atlético Madrid), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Giovani Lo Celso (Real Betis), Maximo Perrone (Como), Giuliano Simeone (Atlético Madrid), Benjamin Dominguez (Bologna), Thiago Almada (Olympique Lyonnais).
Forwards: Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United), Nicolás González (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Nicolás Paz (Como), Claudio Echeverri (Manchester City), Paulo Dybala (Roma), Julian Alvarez (Manchester City), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), Santiago Castro (Bologna), Angel Correa (Atlético Madrid).
Argentina are top of the South American World Cup qualifiers with 25 points after 12 rounds. While Uruguay is in second place with 20 points, Brazil is in fifth place with 18 points. The top six teams qualify directly for the World Cup, while the seventh-place team plays in a global play-off.
