Molina edges ahead of Montiel, Scaloni gets Tagliafico back for Austria

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·19 June 2026

Molina edges ahead of Montiel, Scaloni gets Tagliafico back for Austria

After Argentina’s solid debut with a 3-0 win over Algeria at the 2026 World Cup, Lionel Scaloni is already planning the team for the second group-stage match. All signs point to a forced change at right back: Nahuel Molina coming in to replace Gonzalo Montiel.

Although both defenders arrived at the tournament physically on the edge (there was even talk of calling up Agustín Giay as an emergency option), the even split of minutes in the opener — each played one half — now seems to have tipped in favor of the former Boca player for two main reasons:

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Footballing performance: “Cachete” did not fully convince the coaching staff with his display against Algeria and raised doubts ahead of the demands posed by the European side.
Physical management: In recent training sessions, Montiel’s workload was reduced because of muscle overload. The idea is to preserve him and avoid risking a more serious injury.

Although Molina has a clear edge to start against Austria, it is not ruled out that Montiel could get minutes in the second half to maintain rotation and manage the physical wear and tear on both full-backs.

The good news: Nicolás Tagliafico is already training normally

The left back, who missed the World Cup opener because of a Grade I strain in the soleus of his left leg suffered a week before the tournament, has now rejoined normal training with the rest of the squad. In this way, Scaloni regains a key piece in defense and has him fully available for the clash against the Austrians.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.