Argentina on the verge of setting another record

Argentina will become the first team to win all six opening rounds of World Cup qualifying if they beat Uruguay and Brazil in mid-November.

* Argentina - Uruguay: 7am Friday November 17, Hanoi time.

As the reigning world champions, Argentina are leading the South American qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup with a perfect 12 points, scoring seven goals and conceding none. Captain Lionel Messi contributed three goals, scoring the only goal in the opening 1-0 win over Ecuador and netting a brace in the 2-0 win over Peru.

Since CONMEBOL adopted the current format for the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, only three teams have won all four legs. Before Lionel Scaloni's Argentina, Tite's Brazil in the Qatar 2022 qualifiers and Marcelo Bielsa's Argentina in the Korea-Japan 2002 qualifiers achieved this feat.

Messi and Argentina players during a training session in Buenos Aires on November 15. Photo: AFP — Messi and Argentina players during a training session in Buenos Aires on November 15. Photo: *AFP*

In the 2002 Korea-Japan qualifiers, Argentina won all five matches, defeating Chile 4-1, Venezuela 4-0, Bolivia 1-0, Colombia 3-1, Ecuador 2-0 and then losing to Brazil 1-3 in Sao Paulo in the sixth match. At that time, Argentina topped the qualifiers with 43 points, 12 points more than the second-placed team, Ecuador.

In the Qatar 2022 qualifiers, Tite's Brazil won all four matches, defeating Bolivia 5-0, Peru 4-2, Venezuela 1-0, Uruguay 2-0, and then drawing Colombia 0-0 in the next match. At that time, Tite's army also finished at the top of the group with 45 points, six points ahead of Argentina.

Therefore, if they win the next two matches, Lionel Scaloni's Argentina will become the first South American team to win all six matches of the World Cup qualifiers. In this training session, Argentina will host Uruguay at home on November 17 and then travel to Brazil on November 22.

If they beat Uruguay, Argentina will equal their own achievement from more than 20 years ago. Then Scaloni's team will make history if they continue to take three points at the Maracana - Brazil's iconic stadium.

Maracana also holds beautiful memories for Messi and his teammates. On this field, Messi and his teammates defeated Brazil 1-0 thanks to Angel Di Maria's goal in the 2021 Copa America final. This is also Messi's first title in the national team jersey.

In the November training session, coach Scaloni kept the same squad that has been successful for more than two years, when calling up goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, defenders Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nahuel Molina, midfielders Enzo Fernandez, Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, strikers Julian Alvarez, Lautaro Martinez and captain Messi.

List of Argentina players in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America in November:

Goalkeepers: Juan Musso (Atalanta), Franco Armani (River Plate), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Walter Benitez (PSV).

Defenders: Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Lucas Martinez (Fiorentina), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Marcos Acuna (Sevilla), Gonzalo Montiel (Nottingham Forest), Pablo Maffeo (Mallorca), Nahuel Molina (Atletico), German Pezzella (Real Betis), Francisco Ortega (Olympiakos), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon).

Midfielders: Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea), Leandro Paredes (Roma), Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico), Exequiel Palacios (Leverkusen), Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool).

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Julian Alvarez (Man City), Paulo Dybala (Roma), Angel Di Maria (Benfica), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), Nicolas Gonzalez (Fiorentina), Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla).

Hong Duy

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