Scaloni showed his hand: «Paredes will play»

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·6 luglio 2026

Scaloni showed his hand: «Paredes will play»

Lionel Scaloni gave his usual press conference ahead of the World Cup round of 16 and made several important points looking ahead to the match against Egypt. He confirmed Leandro Paredes will return to the starting lineup, said that Messi is fine despite having played 120 minutes against Cape Verde, and stressed that the African side will be a much tougher opponent than many imagine.

“¿Por qué viene jugando Alexis de 5? Porque Paredes vino lesionado, no tiene otra lectura. Cuando Leandro da sensación de estar bien, ha jugado él. El suplente ideal creemos que era Alexis, porque Enzo venía jugando a una altura más”. Lionel Scaloni. ‼️
– lunedì 6 luglio 2026

He also explained why he used Alexis Mac Allister as a holding midfielder, said he was concerned about the short rest between matches, analyzed the surprises this World Cup has produced so far (including Brazil’s elimination), and stated that Argentina need to control matches better with the ball again to avoid suffering in opponents’ transitions.

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Scaloni’s most important quotes

“Leandro Paredes is available and he’s going to play.”
“Leo Messi is fine. He played 120 minutes and, if there’s anything wrong, he didn’t tell me. He’s going to play anyway.”
“Egypt are a very good team, with a very clear style of play. They’ll be a difficult opponent.”
“We have to defend ourselves with the ball and not try to reach the goal in two passes.”
“When we can’t play well, this team has the grit, intensity, and character to compete.”
“The favorites aren’t showing the level that was expected of them before the World Cup either.”
“Brazil went out because they faced a great opponent. We’re on alert because Egypt are too.”
“The schedule doesn’t help: the further you advance, the more rest you should have, and the opposite is happening.”
“Alexis played as the No. 5 because Paredes arrived at the World Cup injured.”
“We’re not going to change the formation from the start, although we can modify it during the match.”

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