Argentina's new squad: Messi leads, Echeverri and Perrone selected for the first time

On March 2, local time, the Argentine national team announced the latest training list. This lineup continues to be led by Messi, while Acuña, Guido Rodriguez, Lisandro Martinez, Senesi and others were not selected due to injuries and other factors.

Villarreal right-back Juan Foyth, who had missed eight rosters, was re-selected after nearly a year and a half. He has been out since October 2023 due to shoulder and knee injuries. Olympiacos left-back Francisco Ortega was also selected again, and he is expected to fill the vacancies left by Acuña and Valentin Barco.

Scaloni also called up a number of young players, including Nico Paz, Claudio Echeverri, Maximo Perrone, Benjamin Domingos and Santiago Castro. Among them, Manchester City's new signing Claudio Echeverri, Manchester City midfielder Maximo Perrone who was loaned to Como, and Bologna's forward combination Benjamin Domingos and Santiago Castro were all selected for the first time, and they all had outstanding performances this season.

Argentina will play two World Cup qualifiers on March 21 and 25, against Uruguay and Brazil respectively. They currently lead the South American standings with 8 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses, accumulating 25 points, 5 points ahead of Uruguay. If they can get all 6 points, Argentina may secure the World Cup qualification in advance.

Argentina's 33-man squad:

Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Jerónimo Rulli (Marseille), Walter Benitez (PSV Eindhoven)

Defenders: Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate), Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur), Germán Pezzella (River Plate), Leonardo Balerdi (Marseille), Juan Foyth (Villarreal), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Facundo Medina (Lens), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Francisco Ortega (Olympiacos)

Midfielders: Leandro Paredes (Roma), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea), Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid), Ezequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Alexis McAllister (Liverpool), Giovanni Lo Celso (Betis), Maximo Perrone (Como)

Forwards: Giuliano Simeone (Atletico Madrid), Benjamin Dominguez (Bologna), Thiago Almada (Lyon), Alejandro Ganacho (Manchester United), Nicolas Gonzalez (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Nicolas Paz (Como), Claudio Echeverri (Manchester City), Paulo Dybala (Roma), Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan), Santiago Castro (Bologna), Ángel Correa (Atletico Madrid)