Argentina plays its last friendly before the Cup

The Argentine National Team will face Guatemala today, in the last friendly before the start of the Copa América, with the news that captain Lionel Messi will start the match.

Those led by Lionel Scaloni have just beaten Ecuador 1-0, in a closely contested match that was not at all friendly. Against Guatemala, starting at 9 p.m., they will have their last test before beginning the defense of the title in the Copa América, in which they will debut against Canada next Thursday the 20th. Their other rivals in the continental competition will be Chile and Peru.

Scaloni’s idea for this match is to give minutes to those who were not against Ecuador. This would mean the return to the starting eleven of defenders Nicolás Tagliafico, Nicolás Otamendi and Nahuel Molina, midfielders Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernández and star Lionel Messi, among others. Nor should we rule out a possible entry of Exequiel Palacios in place of Rodrigo De Paul.

On Wednesday the players had to train at the hotel due to the flood and the weather alert in Fort Lauderdale, Miami.

Guatemala, for its part, has just beaten the British Virgin Islands 3-0 in the second round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.

The game will be played at FedEx Field, a stadium in Washington with capacity for 67,000 people.

Chile’s win

Chile beat Paraguay 3-0 in another of the international friendlies, in the run-up to the 2024 Copa América with a double from Dávila and another from Vargas. Ricardo Gareca, coach of La Roja and Daniel Garnero, coach of La Albirroja, finalize details in the preparation of their players for the start of the continental tournament.

The match was at the National Stadium of Chile and was also the last match for the locals before making their debut in the group they will share with Argentina in the continental tournament. La Roja leaves a message to the Albiceleste team in the run-up to the tournament in the United States.

The team led by Ricardo Gareca always arrives at continental tournaments among the candidates and this time needs to redeem itself after being left out of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.