{"id":2804491,"date":"2026-04-02T03:53:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T03:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/2804491\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T03:53:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T03:53:37","slug":"argentina-close-international-break-with-zambia-friendly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/2804491\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentina close international break with Zambia friendly"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Karl Matchett<\/p>\n

The eight-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner will win an incredible 198th international cap if he starts, as expected, and given the expectations around him potentially ending his Albiceleste career (again) after the summer World Cup, at which time he\u2019ll be 39, this could be his final outing on home soil.<\/p>\n

A title to retain<\/p>\n

Though Messi came off the bench against Mauritania, it\u2019s important for Lionel Scaloni and the team to develop ways of playing \u2013 and winning well, ideally \u2013 without their iconic No. 10. He will naturally be a go-to at the finals in the summer, but it may be he doesn\u2019t play every match or see out every 90 minutes, in trying to spare him to impact later on in defence of their title.<\/p>\n

It means others need to step up more than they\u2019ve managed to thus far in terms of end product; only Juli\u00e1n Alvarez (13) has more than seven goals in the squad, with Nico Paz, Thiago Almada and Giuliano Simeone perhaps among those who could earn themselves a regular starting place if they can prove they can be a supply line.<\/p>\n

\"\"To watch the upcoming friendlies in the United States, click here<\/p>\n

Defence first?<\/p>\n

If the attack is not completely clicking into gear, it\u2019s vital that Argentina can hold strong at the other end then \u2013 and so there is optimism around a new-look partnership of Cristian Romero and Marcos Senesi at the back. Senesi\u2019s Bournemouth contract is up this summer and with clubs like Barcelona and Atl\u00e9tico Madrid reportedly keen on him, establishing himself as a starter ahead of the World Cup \u2013 and performing well during it \u2013 will only raise his profile and earning potential further. He ranks above 98% of European centre-backs for defensive contributions over the past year and is top 5% in the Premier League this term.<\/p>\n

Low-key opponents<\/p>\n

Opponents Zambia won the Afcon in 2014 but have been on a downward trajectory since \u2013 they haven\u2019t actually won an Afcon game since the semi-finals of that year, given they drew the final and won on penalties. Only seven of the current squad ply their trade outside of Zambia.<\/p>\n

Recent internationals<\/p>\n

Argentina have won six of their last eight though their last notable win was arguably June last year, in Chile. Zambia have won one of their last 13 matches over the past year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Team news<\/p>\n

Messi is set to start but Gonzalo Montiel withdrew from the squad injured and Joaqu\u00edn Panichelli is out of the World Cup after rupturing his ACL again in training before the weekend.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Key Player<\/p>\n

If Simeone gets the nod down the right, he can be a force and a threat if tuned in \u2013 though still needs to add more control and poise to his final decision. Still, he\u2019s top 1.5% of LaLiga attackers for expected assists, top 5% for big chances created and top 8% for successful dribbles.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/p>\n

Another win for Argentina as the home crowd give a pre-tournament send-off\u2026but not a result to strike fear into potential summer rivals: Argentina 3-0 Zambia.<\/p>\n

(Cover image from IMAGO)<\/p>\n

You can follow every Argentina game with FotMob this season \u2013 featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.<\/p>\n

To watch the upcoming Argentina games in the United States, check out the coverage provided by BeINSports \u2013 here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Karl Matchett The eight-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner will win an incredible 198th international cap if he starts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2804492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[785161],"tags":[133793,23370],"class_list":{"0":"post-2804491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-argentina","8":"tag-argentina","9":"tag-23370"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/wakoka.com\/@news\/116333091831472679","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2804491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2804491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2804491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2804492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2804491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2804491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2804491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}