Argentina will have to cope without eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi for their CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup qualifier against Chile at Estadio Mas Monumental in Buenos Aires on Thursday (local time).

The legendary 37-year-old attacker has not been selected in Lionel Scaloni's 28-man squad as he continues to recover from the ankle injury sustained during Argentina's Copa America final triumph over Colombia in July.

Scaloni has also revealed that Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister was "in pain" after pulling up with an unspecified issue in training and is therefore unlikely to feature against Chile.

La Albiceleste defenders Nicolas Tagliafico and Leonardo Balerdi are both ruled out through injury, while Angel Di Maria and Franco Armani have both retired from international football.

The absence of Tagliafico leaves Argentina light in the left-back department, with two-cap Valentin Barco - on loan at Sevilla from Brighton & Hove Albion - the only natural left-back option in Scaloni's squad.

Nahuel Molina and Gonzalo Montiel will resume their battle for a start at right-back, while Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez is set to be the preferred centre-back partnership, protecting first-choice goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Enzo Fernandez was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons last month after he was captured singing an offensive song about French players following Argentina's Copa America triumph, but he is available for selection and could start in midfield alongside Rodrigo De Paul and Giovani Lo Celso.

In the absence of Messi and Di Maria, Scaloni is set to weigh up whether to select another midfielder such as Leandro Paredes or Guido Rodriguez, or hand a start to an attacker to link up with Julian Alvarez and Copa America Golden Boot winner Lautaro Martinez.

Nicolas Gonzalez, Alejandro Garnacho and Paulo Dybala will be among those pushing to start, while uncapped quartet Valentin Castellanos, Giuliano Simeone, Matias Soule and Ezequiel Fernandez will also be hoping to feature in some capacity on Thursday.

Argentina possible starting lineup: E. Martinez; Molina, Romero, Li. Martinez, Barco; De Paul, Fernandez, Lo Celso; Gonzalez, La. Martinez, Alvarez

Written by
Oliver Thomas