In June, Argentina will play two World Cup qualifiers. On June 5, they will host Chile, and on June 10, their opponent will be Colombia. As World Cup-winning coach Lionel Scaloni prepares to select his starting XI for these two matches, he faces a major challenge. Due to the busy schedule of the Club World Cup, 14 Argentine players might not get permission to play for the national team.
The 21st edition of the Club World Cup will begin on June 14 with 32 teams, and out of the 14 Argentine players, 7 are regulars for the national team. These players include Atlético Madrid’s Julián Álvarez, Rodrigo De Paul, Nahuel Molina, Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martínez, Benfica’s Nicolás Otamendi, Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández, and Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi.
In addition to these seven, players like Julián Simeone, Ángel Correa, Nicolás González, Gonzalo Montiel, Marcos Acuña, Germán Pezzella, and Lucas Martínez will also be tied up with the Club World Cup. As a result, Argentina might have to play their World Cup qualifying matches without these 14 players.
According to Argentine media outlet TyC Sports, Scaloni will wait for them until the last moment. If any of the 14 manage to get permission from their clubs, they will be available for the Chile and Colombia matches. Otherwise, Scaloni will use this opportunity to test the depth of his bench. Since Argentina has already secured a spot in the 2026 World Cup, the outcome of these two matches will not have a significant impact on their qualification.
However, if Argentina performs poorly in these two matches, it will affect their ranking. According to the latest FIFA rankings, Argentina sits at the top with 1886.16 points. The next update will be on July 10, 58 days from now. Scaloni will likely want to avoid any bad results in these matches, as the difference in points between Argentina and second-ranked Spain is minimal. Spain, the former World Cup champions, has 1854.64 points.
