Argentina start training in the United States before the World Cup | OneFootball

The Argentina National Team kicked off its World Cup dream this Monday and held its first training session ahead of the friendlies it will play on Saturday the 6th and Tuesday the 9th, before the start of the World Cup. Coach Lionel Scaloni had several injury absences, although he did have those who joined up for the warm-up matches. Shortly after 6 p.m. local time (8 p.m. in Argentina), the squad stepped onto the Compass Minerals National Performance Center, usually used by Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer (MLS), for training.

The hot day did not stop the national team from carrying out a series of drills, first in the gym and then on the field, low-intensity exercises as it was the first session with the full group of call-ups, including several players who arrived not fully fit and are trying to avoid a new injury that would force a last-minute change to the squad list made public last Thursday.

This was Argentina’s first training session on the eve of the 2026 World Cup. (Argentina National Team Press)

Although all 26 call-ups arrived on Sunday afternoon at the training camp in the country that will host the most matches in this tournament, which begins on June 11, the Pujato-born coach knows he will do without several players in the friendlies.

The latest to suffer an injury is Leandro Paredes, who has a hamstring tear in his right leg from Boca’s elimination against Universidad Católica, and the focus is on having him available for the opener.

The midfielder joined Dibu Martínez, who suffered a fracture in one of the fingers of his left hand before the Europa League final and arrived in Kansas with the area bandaged.

Lisandro Martínez and Dibu Martínez, on their way to Kansas to join up with the Argentina squad. (@LisandrMartinez)

Meanwhile, Nico Paz is dealing with discomfort in his left knee after a heavy knock suffered in a match against Hellas Verona, while Cristian Romero is slowly entering the final stretch of his recovery. Something similar is happening with Julián Álvarez, who suffered a sprained left ankle at the end of April in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal against Arsenal, but is expected to arrive in optimal condition.

The list is completed by Nicolás González, with a muscle tear sustained at the end of April during an Atlético de Madrid training session, and Gonzalo Montiel and Nahuel Molina, both with muscle tears.

That is why the coaching staff kept several players on standby in case of possible absences, such as Santiago Beltrán, Agustín Giay, Nicolás Capaldo, Nicolás Domínguez, Matías Soulé, Máximo Perrone, and Emiliano Buendía.

Cuti Romero, Paredes, and Lo Celso at the Kansas airport. (@afaseleccion)

In Kansas City, Argentina will be based throughout the entire World Cup and from there will travel to the different cities to play its matches, but first it will have to play the friendlies. Because of that, on Friday they will travel to Texas, where on Saturday they will face Honduras in College Station in their first warm-up match. On Sunday they will continue training in Texas and on Monday they will head to Alabama — even farther east — for the Tuesday the 9th test against Iceland in Auburn.

That same day, the group will return to Kansas to train until its World Cup debut on Tuesday, June 16, against Algeria in that same city. Against Austria on Monday the 22nd, the action will move to Arlington, Texas, and there will also be an immediate return to the Kansas bunker. On Saturday the 27th, against Jordan, the same venue will be used again, and it remains to be seen, given that it is a last-minute match, whether they will take the charter that same early morning or spend the night there. The idea is to stay in Kansas, at least until the quarterfinals, if they make it.

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