Scaloni weighs up Beltrán as Argentina's 27th man for 2026 World Cup | OneFootball

The Argentina national team could travel to the 2026 World Cup with one more player than expected. Lionel Scaloni is seriously considering the possibility of including River goalkeeper Santiago Beltrán as the squad’s 27th member, in a sparring role similar to the one Federico Gómes Gerth filled in Qatar 2022. The roster will still consist of 26 professionals, but Beltrán could join the group as support during preparation, with the option of returning to River before June 16, the deadline for making replacements.

According to what TyC Sports has learned, the decision had been under consideration regardless of Dibu Martínez’s injury. Martínez admitted he broke a finger during the warm-up for Aston Villa’s Europa League final against Freiburg, although he completed the match without any issues, won the title, and is not expected to have any problems heading into the tournament.

If the addition goes through, Beltrán would first play in the Torneo Apertura final between River and Belgrano this Sunday at the Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium in Córdoba and would then join the national team. Eduardo Coudet would leave him out of River’s final Copa Sudamericana match against Blooming on Wednesday the 27th at the Monumental.

Argentina’s final squad must be submitted no later than Saturday, May 30. On June 2, FIFA will publish the official lists of the 48 participating national teams. Scaloni submitted a preliminary list of 55 players as a step before trimming it down, taking more time than other teams such as France or Brazil to decide on the final roster.

Among the new names on the preliminary list were Nicolás Capaldo, Zaid Romero, Mateo Pellegrino, Alejandro Garnacho, and Matías Soulé, in addition to the particular case of Gianluca Prestianni, who was included despite an international suspension for homophobic insults directed at Vinicius in the Champions League.

Once the players finish their club commitments, they will report to the AFA training center in Ezeiza before traveling to Kansas, where Argentina will set up its base camp. Before the official debut, the national team will play two friendlies: on June 6 against Honduras at Kyle Field in Texas and on June 9 against Iceland in Auburn, Alabama.

Argentina will make its World Cup debut on June 16 against Algeria at the Kansas City Chiefs’ stadium, then travel to Dallas to face Austria on June 22, and will close out the group stage against Jordan on the 27th.

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