Nicolás Tagliafico Ruled Out of Argentina’s World Cup Qualifiers Due to Injury: Who Will Replace Him?

2024-08-29 00:14:00

Nicolás Tagliafico will not be part of the 28-man squad that will play the double date for the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico for a calf injury which does not allow him to play regularly.

Olympique Lyon and the National Team have agreed that the player will not play the next matches with the Albiceleste due to he is still getting into the rhythm of the game after the illness that affected him after the Copa América 2024 in the United States, according to those close to the footballer. This did not allow him to have a full pre-season in France.

In this way, technical director Lionel Scaloni suffered an unexpected drop in his squad list just days before the games against Chile and Colombia, which will be played on September 5 and 10 respectively.

This created controversy over who would replace the former Banfield, and while a number of names have emerged as possibilities, the two most likely to wear the Argentina shirt in this double qualifier are River footballer Marcos Acuña and Boca player Lautaro Blanco.

Also as options are on the left Valentín Barco or defendant Lisandro Martínez. Likewise, the coaching staff is analyzing the possibility of adding Acuña or Blanco, with the former being the most likely.

Another casualty was defender Leonardo Balerdi, who suffered a muscle injury at Olympique de Marseille and, for that reason, it was decided to remove him from the list of selected players.

However, the news is expected to be officially confirmed by the Albiceleste coaching staff.

The full list of summons

Archers: Emiliano Martinez, Walter Benitez, Geronimo Rulli and Juan Musso.

Defendants: Gonzalo Montiel, Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Germán Pezzella, Nicolás Otamendi, Lisandro Martínez and Valentín Barco.

Middle of the field: Leandro Paredes, Guido Rodríguez, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernández, Giovani Lo Celso, Ezequiel Fernández and Rodrigo de Paul.

Faces: Paulo Dybala, Nicolás González, Alejandro Garnacho, Matías Soulé, Giuliano Simeone, Valentín Carboni, Julián Álvarez, Lautaro Martínez and Valentín Castellanos.