🇦🇷 Analysing Argentina's chances at the 2024 Copa América | OneFootball

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The Argentine national team, led by Lionel Scaloni and captained by Lionel Messi, is looking to defend its continental title at the 2024 Copa América.

Naturally, La Albiceleste arrives as one of the top contenders; the ‘Scaloneta’ won its 15th Copa América in Maracanã in 2021, defeated Italy in the 2022 Finalissima, and capped off its victorious streak by celebrating the ultimate title in international football at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Messi was at the height of his legend, and the team became invincible.

A year and a half later, practically the same World Cup-winning squad comes to the United States to compete for the Copa América.

Strength: A Deep Squad with Many Options

Argentina has the luxury of leaving players of the caliber of Lisandro Martínez, Giovanni Lo Celso, Leandro Paredes, Exequiel Palacios, Julián Álvarez, or even Ángel Di María on the bench.

Scaloni himself commented on this before the friendly match against Ecuador, where he benched Messi, MacAllister, Enzo Fernández, and Otamendi. All of them are regular starters, but not absolutely so; Scaloni’s options are flexible. Depending on the strategy or the opponent, he can adjust the team thanks to having one of the best current national squads. The coach assured that there are active battles for starting positions in several spots, but whichever option he chooses, he has ample guarantees. Additionally, the squad knows each other perfectly and has worked together extensively for their recent, historic titles.

Weakness: The Qatar Effect and Potential Overreliance on Messi

Messi shone in Qatar, and the entire team perfectly complemented the magic of the number 10 to win the 2022 World Cup, even when the Argentine star was not at his best individually at PSG. However, the momentum the team gained from the 2021 Maracanã victory and the 2022 Finalissima helped.

The hunger for the title that Messi lacked, and the story that needed to end with that final chapter—something that everyone in the Argentine national team and the country felt was written in the stars—served as the extrafutbolistic drive for the team. Now, Messi has moved to a less demanding league like the MLS, and the circumstances driving the team to fight for this Copa América have changed significantly. Can the ‘Scaloneta’ maintain the level from Qatar without the weight and pressure of that unfulfilled feat? Will Messi, at 37 years old, show his highest level again to lead his team to the title? And if he doesn’t, can Argentina find alternatives?

Possible Starting XI

There won’t be major surprises in Scaloni’s starting eleven, although he noted that the final player list for the Copa América will be announced only after the next friendly, against Guatemala next Friday.

For now, the potential XI for the Copa América is as follows: Emiliano Martínez; Marcos Acuña, Nicolás Otamendi, Cristian Romero, Gonzalo Montiel; Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Alexis MacAllister; Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martínez, and Nicolás González.