The head coach of the Argentine national team, Lionel Scaloni, has announced the list of players called up for the friendly match against Guatemala on March 31, which will be held at the Alberto J. Armando stadium, better known as "La Bombonera." According to the Argentine News Agency, the big news in the squad is the inclusion of Gabriel Rojas, a left-back from Racing who has been having very good performances at the "Academy," and Tomás Palacios, a central defender from Estudiantes de La Plata. The goalkeepers called up by Scaloni were Emiliano "Dibu" Martínez, Gerónimo Rulli, and Juan Musso. Among the defenders, in addition to the mentioned Rojas and Palacios, will be Nahuel Molina, Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, Leonardo Balerdi, Marcos Senesi, Nicolás Otamendi, Nicolás Tagliafico, and Marcos Acuña. The players chosen by Scaloni to compete for a spot in the midfield were Leandro Paredes, Máximo Perrone, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernández, Valentín Barco, Rodrigo De Paul, and Exequiel Palacios. Finally, the forwards who will be present are Lionel Messi, Nico Paz, Gianluca Prestianni, Nicolás González, Giuliano Simeone, Thiago Almada, José López, and Julián Álvarez. The big absentee from the call-up is forward Lautaro Martínez, who suffered an injury a few weeks ago while playing for Inter in Italy and has not yet fully recovered. The friendly against Guatemala will be the Argentine national team's last match before the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, where they will go in search of their fourth star, which would allow them to equal Italy and Germany and trail only Brazil by one. During this FIFA window, Argentina was supposed to play the Finalissima against Spain in Qatar, but it was canceled due to the war in the Middle East and the lack of an agreement between the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to find a new venue.
