Qualifiers: With Messi in doubt, Argentina hosts Paraguay

The Argentine National Team will face Paraguay tonight for the third date of the South American Qualifiers towards the 2026 World Cup, with the aim of achieving a new triumph that allows it to remain at the top of the standings. The match will be played from 20 at the Mâs Monumental Stadium, River Plate, with the Brazilian Raphael Claus as referee and television of Public TV and TyC Sports. In the VAR will be the Brazilian Rodolpho Toski.Scaloni’s team won the first two games – 1-0 against Ecuador and 3-0 against Bolivia – and shares the first place in the standings with Brazil, also with a perfect score. For this match, the coach again has Lionel Messi, who scored the winning goal against Ecuador, but who, since then, had little activity due to a discomfort in the hamstring of the right leg. The captain trained normally since his arrival in the country, but it is not yet confirmed if he will be part of the 11 that the coach will stop from the start. Photo: TélamParaguay, with the debut of Argentine Daniel Garnero as coach replacing another Argentine, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, is presented as a rival of care more for the last clashes than for his present. The “albirroja” did not qualify for the last three World Cups and at the start of the journey towards 2026 only got one point of the six at stake. In the first round it drew goalless against Peru, at home, with one more player throughout the second half and then lost 1-0 in its visit to Venezuela.However, Argentina could only beat Paraguay in one of the last six crosses and it was in the group stage of the Copa América 2021 by 1-0.

Original source in Spanish