At the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar, the Argentina national team, 36 years after the big victory at the 1986 World Cup, and the outstanding Diego Maradona’s team finally regained the title of the strongest football team on the planet. This time the “white-blues” were led to victory by Lionel Messi, who was actually the last chance of this World Cup to join the squad of footballers who have the “golds” of the world championship in their assets.
What would life be without Lionel Messi? Fans of the Argentina national team woke up to this question the day after the stormy championship celebration. The “blue and whites” will have to answer this four years later at the 2026 World Cup, which will be held on the grounds of the USA, Mexico and Canada. The best player of the 2022 World Cup said that even before the final match of the Qatar World Cup against France, he did not see the opportunity to play in the tournament of the strongest teams on the planet in 2026.
Lionel knows he’ll be 39 in four years, and it’s hard to stay competitive at the highest level, even for geniuses at this age. And if the head coach of the Argentines, Lionel Scaloni, said that he was ready to find a place for Messi in the national team and at the 2026 World Cup, and the striker himself later gave an ambiguous interview, in which he spoke of a desire. To experience what it’s like to play as a world champion, the facts say that the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada will most likely pass without one of the two greatest Argentine footballers in history (along with Maradona).
Without the cornerstone of game concepts and the legendary Ten that has been carefully polished over the past decade and a half, the Argentina national team will have to reinvent themselves four years later to reclaim their status as the strongest team on the planet. As the White-Blues do not have a single player with the same skill and characteristics as Messi, potentially even at youth level, Scaloni’s side will have to rely more on collective play and will likely become more dependent on counter attacks. .
Given the fact that the Argentina national team, along with Messi, will leave another star offensive player by 2026 – Angel Di Maria, who will celebrate his 35th birthday next February, the Scaloni team will most likely have to withdraw from the plan altogether. the game is on three forwards. Instead, “white-blue” will clearly come to the classic 4-4-2, which the team has repeatedly and successfully used in a number of fights, including important ones, under the current head coach.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Giovanni Lo Celso did not apply for the World Cup, but was in the national team.
Given the possible change in the playing scheme from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 in the Argentina national team, an official replacement of Messi will have to be one of the midfielders. Maybe we’ll talk about Giovanni Lo Celso, who missed the tournament in Qatar due to a hip injury. A football player with such traits could benefit the White-Blues as it would free up Rodrigo De Paul and Alexis McAllister for more creative and active work on the flanks.
At the front, Argentina can count on an offensive duo made up of Julián Alvarez, the secret hero of the 2022 World Cup, and Lautaro Martinez, the loser of the Qatar World Cup. Secondly, although Qatar failed to score with effective action in six matches of the World Cup, he remains one of the most dangerous and prolific strikers of our time, and as such Martinez will certainly come in handy in future battles.
Alongside Atlético Madrid’s talented and fast-footed winger Angel Correa, the Argentines could try to keep the offensive trio in a 4-3-3 play scheme by shifting Julian Alvarez to the wing, which wouldn’t be unusual for us. secondly, due to performing similar duties for Josep Guardiola at Manchester City.
In fact, the main problems and questions of the Argentina national team for the 2026 World Cup will arise precisely in relation to the offensive line. Defensively, Lionel Scaloni should suffer a lot less headaches in the next qualifying round, as the only key player who will probably not be able to play at the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada due to his age is Nicholas Otamendi, 34, a Benfica centerback and one of the Blue and Whites coaching favourites.
For the latter, the Argentine national team already has a worthy replacement – 24-year-old Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez, with 15 games behind him in a blue and white jersey, and, according to many, having knocked Otamendi long ago, special devotion from Scaloni to the former veteran basic stuff though.
With other key figures in the defense of the Argentina national team, it is quite possible to qualify for the 2026 World Cup and then try to defend there the title of the strongest team on the planet. On the right, 24-year-old Nahuel Molina of Atlético Madrid played for Qatar, on the left was Nicholas Tagliafico, 30, from Lyon, and in the centre, Otamendi’s partner was mostly 24-year-old Christian Romero from Tottenham. “. In terms of age, each of them can qualify for a place in the base of the Argentina national team in four years. The same is true of 30-year-old Aston, who became one of the heroes of the Blue and Whites in Qatar with two penalty shootouts in the play-offs (against the Netherlands and France). The same goes for Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
There are no prerequisites for the Argentine Football Federation to leave with Lionel Scaloni, who has coached the Blue and Whites since 2018. A fairly young specialist (Scaloni is now only 44 years old) has worked with the team for four years, achieving incredible things and winning everything he can. In addition, Lionel showed flexibility in his work during the 2022 World Cup, but the start of the World Cup was shocking to his wards, to say the least – the defeat of Saudi Arabia (1:2) .. .
Scaloni’s current contract with the Argentine Football Federation runs until the end of 2026, which means that the national team will go to the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada under the supervision of this special expert. Before this tournament, something must have been completely unpredictable for Argentina to replace the head coach, who now has to reform the team and find an answer to the key question – is there life after Lionel Messi? ..
The PS Argentina national team will play their first match on the way to the 2026 World Cup in March 2023 – this is the date when the qualifying tournament for the new World Cup in the CONMEBOL region (South America) is scheduled to begin.
Estimated composition of the Argentina national team for the 2026 World CupStory: Emiliano Martinez; Nahuel Molina, Christian Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Nicholas Tagliafico; Enzo Fernandez, Giovanni Lo Celso, Rodrigo de Paul, Alexis McAllister; Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez.
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.
Head coach of the Portuguese national team Roberto Martinez He explained why Cristiano Ronaldo continues to play an important role in the national team.
– There is always a lot of talk around Cristiano Ronaldo. Why does he remain the undisputed starter for the Portuguese national team, even though he will soon be 41?
“It’s all about his attitude towards the profession.” We constantly evaluate three key factors: talent level, accumulated experience and the contribution a player can make to the national team.
Making the highest demands on himself for the benefit of the team allows the captain to maintain his place in the squad. His desire to be the best is passed on to his partners. “The 25 goals he scored in 30 matches as a striker confirms that his play brings tangible benefits to the national team,” he said.
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.
The International Football Federation has confirmed the implementation of the seeding change in the draw procedure for the 2026 World Cup, which has stagnated the seeding system, similar to the one contested on the tennis court. Wimbledon tournaments.
This new system, which has already been tested at the World Club Championship, guarantees that the highest rated teams will be placed at the bottom of the tournament bracket. The aim is to give the bigs the best chance of reaching the final or being accepted before the semi-final.
Under the new principle, the top two ranked teams (Spain and Argentina) will be placed first on the bottom line, and the same principle will apply to the third and fourth teams (France and England).
“To ensure that the two best-ranked teams, once they have won their group, do not compete against each other until the final,” FIFA says.
The new method has the potential to create more balance between teams and ensure that the strongest teams come together in the later stages of growth, as is often the case. Tenis, where the seeding system ensures finals between the nearest gravel types.
Although weaker teams can strengthen their system, this system supports sporting integrity and gives an advantage to the most successful teams. FIFA is committed to competitive balance and will give matches the highest priority to fans.
The draw for the Emergency 2026 group stage will take place on the 5th day and the latest updates on the match schedule and stadiums will be announced the following day.
Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.
The International Football Federation has officially decided that teams that qualify for the World Cup through play-off matches (this category currently belongs to Ukraine) will be automatically eliminated up to 4th place.
This means that once someone has successfully qualified for Ukraine, he or she will have an even more complex group, with the 4th group consisting of the weakest rated participants, who are guaranteed to be eliminated to the groups with the strongest teams from the 1st cat.
FIFA has confirmed a major change to the draw procedure, introducing a seeding system similar to that of the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
Change the clicks to ensure that the strongest teams play among themselves in the later stages of development, increasing interest until the final stages of the tournament.
Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.
