Messi was excluded from the Argentina national team and his replacement was called up
The name of the star and captain, Lionel Messi, was absent from the roster of the Argentine national team, the world champion, for the two scheduled matches against Chile and Colombia in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, due to injury, which opened the door to the recall of Italian Roma striker, Paulo Dybala.
The Argentine national team said, today, Monday, through its account on the “X” website, that Dybala’s name had been “added to the group.”
Messi has been absent from the field since he suffered an injury in the middle of last month, during the Copa America final, but this did not prevent his country from retaining the continental title, as it beat Colombia 1-0.
After he announced his international retirement, the name of winger Angel Di Maria was absent from the list of coach Lionel Scaloni, who used the youth team, as he included:
Valentin Barco (20 years old, Sevilla, Spain), Ezequiel Fernandez (22 years old, Al-Qadisiyah, Saudi Arabia), Matias Sule (21 years old, Roma, Italy), Giuliano Simeone (21 years old, Atletico Madrid, Spain), and Tati Castellanos (25 years old, Lazio, Italy).
Argentina leads the unified group standings with 15 points, from 6 matches, two points ahead of second Uruguay, while Colombia occupies third place with 12 points.
