Soccer
Argentina squad for 2026 World Cup: All players, captain, shirt numbers and Lionel Scaloni's coaching staff
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Argentina will look to become the first nation to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962, when they head to North America to defend their crown.
To aid him, Lionel Scaloni has picked his 26-man squad, and it does include Lionel Messi, who competes in his sixth and final World Cup tournament.
The 2026 World Cup, from June 11 to July 19, is an expanded format with 48 national teams now competing, originally divided into 12 groups.
Argentina will face Algeria, Austria and Jordan in Group J , starting on Tuesday, 16 June, when they begin against Algeria.
Argentina squad for the 2026 World Cup
All squads are provisional until FIFA announces the final list of 26 players, following the submission of applications by the participating teams on June 2.
Lionel Scaloni announced his final squad on May 28.
| Shirt Number* | Position | Player |
| 1 | Goalkeeper | Juan Musso (Atletico Madrid) |
| 12 | Goalkeeper | Geronimo Rulli (Marseille |
| 23 | Goalkeeper | Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa) |
| 2 | Defender | Leonardo Balerdi (Marseille) |
| 3 | Defender | Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon) |
| 4 | Defender | Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate) |
| 6 | Defender | Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United) |
| 19 | Defender | Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica) |
| 13 | Defender | Cristian Romero (Tottenham) |
| 25 | Defender | Facundo Medina (Marseille) |
| 26 | Defender | Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid) |
| 5 | Midfielder | Leandro Paredes (River Plate) |
| 7 | Midfielder | Rodrigo de Paul (Inter Miami) |
| 14 | Midfielder | Ezequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen) |
| 20 | Midfielder | Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool) |
| 8 | Midfielder | Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea) |
| 9 | Forward | Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid) |
| 10 | Forward | Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) - captain |
| 15 | Forward | Nicolas Gonzalez (Atletico Madrid) |
| 16 | Forward | Thiago Almada (Atletico Madrid) |
| 17 | Forward | Giuliano Simeone (Atletico Madrid) |
| 18 | Forward | Nico Paz (Como) |
| 21 | Forward | Jose Manuel Lopez (Palmeiras) |
| 22 | Forward | Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan) |
*Shirt numbers not yet assigned.
Argentina coaching staff for 2026 World Cup
This is the Argentina coaching staff for the 2026 World Cup:
| Name | Role |
| Lionel Scaloni | Head Coach |
| Pablo Aimar | Assistant Coach |
| Roberto Ayala | Assistant Coach |
| Walter Samuel | Assistant Coach |
| Martin Tocalli | Goalkeeping Coach |
| Luis Martin | Fitness Coach |
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