Leo Messi will not have to play against Ecuador and has left the Argentina squad, which is preparing for its last South American qualifying match with qualification for the 2026 World Cup already secured.
The Argentine national team trained again to prepare for next Tuesday’s match against Ecuador in Guayaquil, on the final day of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 North American World Cup.
With a place at the World Cup and first place in the qualifiers already secured, coach Lionel Scaloni prepared a session at the Lionel Messi Sports City in Ezeiza without his captain, who was released after the emotional triumph against Venezuela, which could be his last official match on Argentinian soil with the Albiceleste.
Another player released from training was Cuti Romero, who received his second warning against the ‘Vinotinto’ and will not be able to play due to suspension, so he left the national team camp, just like Messi.
The Albiceleste team trained in the morning with traditional warm-up exercises, focusing specifically on speed and coordination drills.
Echeverri and Carboni ‘move up’ from the U20s
Afterwards, the group played a training match for twenty minutes with constant instructions from coach Lionel Scaloni to the 27 players called up, including Claudio Echeverri and Valentin Carboni, who, in the two days leading up to the match against Venezuela, had trained with the U20s.
In the last part of the session, the players did reduced training under various instructions for 25 minutes, before being released until the training session scheduled for Sunday evening.
On Monday, the Albiceleste are planning a morning training session, a press conference with Lionel Scaloni and in the afternoon a charter flight to Guayaquil, where they will arrive at night to sleep and await the match the following day at the Monumental Stadium in the Ecuadorian city.
Among the players called up for this double FIFA matchday, Scaloni decided to do without Facundo Medina and Angel Correa, while Enzo Fernandez missed this last double matchday due to the two-match suspension he received after his expulsion in the last match against Colombia at home.
