Lionel Scaloni narrows Argentina’s preliminary roster to 35 players ahead of the 2026 World Cup
The Argentina national team is already beginning to chart its course toward the 2026 World Cup, where it will defend the title won in Qatar 2022, and Lionel Scaloni, along with his coaching staff, has reportedly made a key decision regarding the squad’s composition.
The Albiceleste coach has reportedly decided to reduce the preliminary list of 55 players to 35 before presenting the final roster of 26 players who will compete in the World Cup.
Argentina has reduced the size of the preliminary list
The goal of this reduction is to gradually approach the limit allowed by FIFA for the World Cup, forcing the coaching staff to make several cuts in the coming weeks until the final roster is set.
According to information released by TyC Sports Argentina journalist Gastón Edul, the initial preliminary list of 55 players has already been cut by nearly 20 names prior to the confirmation of the players who will travel to the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
“The Argentine National Team has reserved approximately 35 players, with notifications sent to European clubs. They won’t be bringing everyone to Argentina,” Edul reported via his official X account, though he did not reveal the names of those players.
He added: “The National Team’s coaching staff is already in the country, and the plan is to finalize the World Cup roster this week.”
In this context, the move leaves the competition within the Argentine squad wide open, where established stars like Lionel Messi lead the world champion core, while young talents and players under evaluation fight for a spot on the final roster.
In fact, on the preliminary list, Scaloni and his coaching staff had already left out six World Cup champions: Paulo Dybala, Alejandro Gómez, Juan Foyth, and Ángel Correa due to injuries or poor performance, while Franco Armani and Ángel Di María have already officially retired from the national team.
Scaloni’s final decision must be finalized before the official registration deadline, set for Saturday, May 30.
Once at the tournament, the team led by the coach who guided Argentina to its third World Cup title will be in Group J and will make its debut against Algeria on Tuesday, June 16, at Kansas City Stadium. Then, at Dallas Stadium, they will face Austria on Monday, June 22, and Jordan on Saturday, June 27.
Before the World Cup begins, the Albiceleste will also play two warm-up friendlies: the first will be against Honduras on June 6 at Kyle Field in Texas, while the second will be against Iceland on June 9 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.
