Argentina World Cup 2026 Squad: Final 26-Player List

Argentina announced their Argentina World Cup 2026 Squad on May 28, 2026, confirming Lionel Messi’s place in the 26-man roster. At 38, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner will compete at a sixth World Cup, a record no male outfield player has ever matched.

Lionel Scaloni named the group one day before the federation deadline, keeping the core that won the title in Qatar four years ago.

The defending champions have a genuine chance to do something no men’s team has managed since Brazil in 1958 and 1962: win back-to-back World Cups. Argentina arrive ranked third in the world and drawn into Group J with Algeria, Austria, and Jordan.

The group doesn’t threaten anyone in Buenos Aires, but Scaloni won’t be taking shortcuts.

Argentina Quick Facts:

• Country: Argentina
• Confederation: CONMEBOL
• Nickname: La Albiceleste
• Head Coach: Lionel Scaloni
• Captain: Lionel Messi
• Group: Group J
• Group Opponents: Algeria, Austria, Jordan
• First Match: June 16, 2026 vs Algeria, Kansas City Stadium, 9:00 PM ET
• Last Group Match: June 27, 2026 vs Jordan, Dallas Stadium, 10:00 PM ET
• FIFA Ranking: 3rd (as of April 1, 2026)
• World Cup Appearance: 19th
• Kit Manufacturer: Adidas

Argentina Squad List for World Cup 2026

Goalkeepers

• Emiliano Martínez, 33, Aston Villa (England)
• Gerónimo Rulli, 34, Olympique Marseille (France)
• Juan Musso, 32, Atlético de Madrid (Spain)

Defenders

• Leonardo Balerdi, 27, Olympique Marseille (France)
• Nicolás Tagliafico, 33, Olympique Lyon (France)
• Gonzalo Montiel, 29, River Plate (Argentina)
• Lisandro Martínez, 28, Manchester United (England)
• Cristian Romero, 28, Tottenham Hotspur (England)
• Nicolás Otamendi, 38, Benfica (Portugal)
• Facundo Medina, 27, Olympique Marseille, on loan from RC Lens (France)
• Nahuel Molina, 28, Atlético de Madrid (Spain)

Midfielders

• Leandro Paredes, 32, Boca Juniors (Argentina)
• Rodrigo De Paul, 32, Inter Miami (USA)
• Valentín Barco, 22, Racing Strasbourg (France)
• Giovani Lo Celso, 30, Real Betis (Spain)
• Exequiel Palacios, 27, Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
• Alexis Mac Allister, 27, Liverpool (England)
• Enzo Fernández, 25, Chelsea (England)

Forwards

• Julián Álvarez, 26, Atlético de Madrid (Spain)
• Lionel Messi (C), 38, Inter Miami (USA)
• Nicolás González, 28, Atlético de Madrid, on loan from Juventus (Spain)
• Thiago Almada, 25, Atlético de Madrid (Spain)
• Giuliano Simeone, 23, Atlético de Madrid (Spain)
• Nico Paz, 22, Como (Italy)
• Juan Manuel López, 25, Palmeiras (Brazil)
• Lautaro Martínez, 28, Internazionale (Italy)

The squad spans 16 years from Nicolás Otamendi at 38 down to Valentín Barco and Nico Paz at 22. The 2022 World Cup-winning core anchors the group. Only eight players make their World Cup debut in 2026, meaning the majority of the squad carries Qatar championship experience. Nine of the 26 are 30 or older. Three are 24 or younger.

Atlético de Madrid sends six players to North America, more than any other single club: Juan Musso, Nahuel Molina, Julián Álvarez, Nicolás González, Thiago Almada and Giuliano Simeone. Five Premier League players travel through Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Aston Villa. Ligue 1 adds five more through three Marseille players, Tagliafico at Lyon and Barco at Strasbourg.

Argentina World Cup 2026 Fixtures

Argentina play all three group-stage matches in the United States. Times are listed in Eastern Time (ET) and Argentina Time (ART), with ART running one hour ahead of ET during June.

Date	Match	Venue	Time (ET)	Time (ART)
June 16, 2026	Argentina vs Algeria	Kansas City Stadium, Kansas City	9:00 PM	10:00 PM
June 22, 2026	Argentina vs Austria	Dallas Stadium, Arlington	1:00 PM	2:00 PM
June 27, 2026	Jordan vs Argentina	Dallas Stadium, Arlington	10:00 PM	11:00 PM

The top two from Group J advance to the Round of 32, and the eight best third-placed teams also move through. Argentina are expected to claim first place. The group sits light for a team with three World Cup titles.

Algeria is the match that carries real risk. They qualified from a competitive CAF Group G and have pace and experience through Riyad Mahrez’s generation.

Austria qualified automatically from UEFA Group H and aren’t built to absorb Argentina’s press. Jordan make their World Cup debut and face a steep climb against three ranked opponents.

Manager: Lionel Scaloni

Lionel Scaloni is 48 years old, born in Pujato, Santa Fe on May 16, 1978. Argentina named him caretaker manager after their 2018 World Cup exit in Russia and confirmed him permanently in November 2018. He is the first person to coach Argentina to a World Cup title without previously holding a senior club management position.

As a player, Scaloni spent his best years at Deportivo de la Coruña in Spain, where he won the 1999-2000 La Liga title. He also played for Lazio and West Ham United, along with spells at Atalanta and RCD Mallorca, before retiring in 2015. His coaching career began as an assistant to Jorge Sampaoli at Sevilla in 2016, and then with the national team in 2018.

He has won three consecutive major trophies: Copa America 2021, World Cup 2022 and Copa America 2024. The run is the most successful sequence for any Argentina coach. Scaloni’s contract with the AFA runs through the 2026 World Cup, with his future beyond the tournament subject to ongoing discussions.

Scaloni favours a 4-3-3 with one holding midfielder and two box-to-box runners ahead of him. The shape compresses quickly out of possession and opens through Messi’s half-space movement when Argentina have the ball. It’s a system built around one player, and it’s won everything available.

Star Player: Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi turns 39 on June 24, 2026, thirteen days after the tournament begins. He plays for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer and arrives as the most decorated player in the history of the sport. This is his sixth World Cup. No other male outfield player has ever competed in six.

Messi has 198 caps and 116 goals for Argentina, numbers that stand apart in CONMEBOL history. His 13 World Cup goals across five previous tournaments are an Argentina all-time record. In Qatar 2022, he won the Golden Ball for the second time after scoring seven goals and assisting three more across seven matches, including a goal and a penalty conversion in the final against France.

His club form stayed sharp into 2025-26. He led Inter Miami to the 2025 MLS Cup, winning the MVP award in the final. In March 2026, he scored his 900th career goal in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match, becoming only the second male player to reach that total in top-level competition. Rodrigo De Paul, his long-time national team partner, joined him at Inter Miami.

In Scaloni’s 4-3-3, Messi plays from the right forward channel but drops into half-spaces and links play rather than hunting the line. The rest of the squad exists partly to protect his energy and serve him in the positions where he hurts defences most. Lautaro Martínez pins centre-backs, Álvarez offers runs in behind, and the midfield presses high to win the ball back quickly.

Messi suffered a hamstring overload during Inter Miami’s CONCACAF Champions Cup campaign in late May, prompting a brief scare ahead of the squad announcement. Scaloni played it down, describing the issue as muscle fatigue rather than a structural injury, and Messi’s inclusion in the final 26 was confirmed on May 28.

Argentina’s ceiling depends on that hamstring holding across six weeks. He’s never competed in a World Cup at this age. But the 2022 final showed he can still be the decisive player when the stakes are highest.

Key Players to Watch

Nico Paz

Nico Paz is 22 and plays for Como in Serie A. The River Plate academy product joined Como from Real Madrid in 2024 and stood out in an Italian top-flight team fighting for survival. His range of passing and ability to play through press made him one of Serie A’s more impressive young midfielders that season.

Scaloni handed Paz his senior Argentina debut during qualification and trusted him in tight moments. In a midfield where Mac Allister and De Paul cover defensive ground, Paz is the one who finds space between the lines and makes opponents think differently. A tournament breakout wouldn’t surprise anyone watching him regularly.

Emiliano Martínez

Emiliano Martínez is 33 and has been Argentina’s starting goalkeeper since their Copa America 2021 run. The Aston Villa stopper won the Golden Glove at the 2022 World Cup, saving a penalty in the shootout that handed Argentina the title. He is consistently among the best goalkeepers in the world at reading angles and standing tall under pressure.

Argentina conceded just 10 goals in 18 CONMEBOL qualifiers. Martínez’s organisation of the defensive line is as important as his shot-stopping. In the knockout rounds of major tournaments, he’s been close to unbeatable. That’s the version of him Argentina needs at 2026.

Alexis Mac Allister

Alexis Mac Allister is 27 and plays for Liverpool, where he won the Premier League title in the 2024-25 season. He’s a complete midfielder, equally effective breaking up play and driving forward into dangerous positions. His energy and decision-making make him one of the most reliable midfielders in European club football.

Mac Allister has become the engine of Scaloni’s midfield since the 2022 World Cup. He covers more ground than any other midfielder in the squad and his passing accuracy under pressure is exceptional. Argentina don’t press as effectively when he’s absent, which tells you everything about his value to the system.

Qualification Path & World Cup History

Argentina topped the CONMEBOL qualifying round-robin with 12 wins, two draws and four losses from 18 matches, scoring 31 goals and conceding 10. Their 38 points were enough to finish first and secure automatic qualification as the confederation’s top team. They confirmed their spot on March 25, 2025.

The W-D-L checks out: 12 + 2 + 4 = 18 matches played, with 31 goals for and 10 against across the full cycle. Wins over Brazil 4-1 at home and a 3-0 victory over Venezuela were among the highlights of a qualifying campaign that showed Argentina’s attacking depth even when Messi rotated.

This is Argentina’s 19th World Cup. Their all-time tournament record of 47 wins, 17 draws and 24 losses across 88 matches places them among the sport’s elite. Three titles in 1978, 1986 and 2022 put them fourth on the all-time winners list, behind Brazil (five), Germany (four) and Italy (four).

Their most recent appearance was Qatar 2022, where they won every knockout match and produced one of the greatest World Cup finals. The match against France finished 3-3 after extra time. Argentina won 4-2 on penalties. Messi scored in the final, converted his shootout penalty, and won the Golden Ball for the second time.

What to Expect & Our Prediction

Scaloni will line Argentina up in a 4-3-3 with Enzo Fernández holding the pivot and Mac Allister and De Paul operating ahead of him. The front line of Messi, Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez offers a combination of movement, link play and goal threat that very few sides can match. Argentina’s strength in the attack is genuinely deep.

The real question mark is what happens if Messi is limited by fatigue or injury late in the tournament. The squad is built around him to a degree that leaves the attack one-dimensional without his involvement. Algeria on June 16 is the group game where that issue gets tested for the first time against serious opposition.

Argentina are expected to beat Algeria and control the Austria match. The Jordan fixture is a rotation opportunity if first place is already secure.

They stand a strong chance of advancing in first place and progressing through the Round of 32 without alarm. The best case is a fourth World Cup title and a second trophy for Messi. The worst case is a quarterfinal exit to a sharper European opponent who exploits their dependence on Messi. A semifinal looks like the realistic floor for a squad of this quality. This prediction reflects the opinion of WCW Staff.

Argentina World Cup 2026 Squad FAQs

The Argentina World Cup 2026 Squad carries defending champions, a 38-year-old captain going for his sixth title and a depth of attacking talent that few nations can match. Scaloni’s side isn’t guaranteed a fourth star. But they’re the team every other group wants to avoid.