With Lionel Messi leading the 17 champions of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni announced the list of 26 called up for the Albiceleste for the 2026 universal tournament, where they will seek to endorse the championship won four years ago on Qatari soil.

The complete list of Argentines was released this Thursday through an institutional video where the surnames of the players who will seek the two-time championship in the World Cup that will be played for the first time in three countries appear: the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The list includes the 17 Qatari champions, eight new faces and a return like that of Gio LoCelso who was in Russia 2018 and did not appear in Qatar to be on the Argentine World Cup list again.

Messi, with an important legacy, leads the Argentines, where he will compete in his sixth World Cup at the age of 38 and where he will want to turn 39 with the second title under his football tutelage, after being part of the teams of Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, where only on Arab soil was he finally able to lift the universal champion trophy.

The talented Rosario player will arrive at the World Cup with 116 goals scored and 61 assists in 198 matches with the Albiceleste shirt, which places him as the top reference in a team considered one of the big favorites for the title in the tournament that will begin on June 11 with the Mexico game against South Africa.

This caused the Argentine team's coaching staff to opt for Facundo Medina from Olympique de Marseille, who has a lot of versatility, both in central defense and on the left side. Medina is one of the nine new faces in the Argentine national team, like Valentín Barco from Racing de Strasbourg, as well as Leonardo Bilardi, Nico Paz, Giuliano Simeone, Nicolás González, Juan López, Juan Musso, as well as Gio LoCelso, who was called up for Russia 2018, but not in Qatar 2022.

Important players such as Franco Mastantuono (Real Madrid) and Emiliano Buendía, who had an outstanding season with Aston Villa, where they became UEFA Europa League champions, were also left out, but did not meet Scaloni's expectations.

On the other hand, Giovani Lo Celso earned a place in Lionel Scaloni's squad after managing to qualify for the Champions League with Betis of Spain. At the midfield level there is also the inclusion of Nico Paz, one of the great revelations who earned a place on the team in the last calls.

The list includes those who established themselves in Qatar, such as Emiliano Martínez, Gerónimo Rulli, Nahuel Molina, Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Lisandro Martínez, Nicolás Tagliafico, Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernández, Ezequiel Palacios, Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martínez, Julián Álvarez and Nicolás González.

It should be noted that they arrive with many doubts due to injuries: Dibu Martínez, Cuti Romero, Gonzalo Montiel, Nahuel Molina, Nico Paz, Nico González and Lionel Messi himself.

The complete list of those summoned:

Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martínez, Gerónimo Rulli and Juan Musso.

Defenders: Gonzalo Montiel, Nahuel Molina, Lisandro Martínez, Nicolás Otamendi, Leonardo Balerdi, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Tagliafico and Facundo Medina.

Midfielders: Giovani Lo Celso, Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Exequiel Palacios, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister and Valentín Barco.

Forwards: Lionel Messi, Nicolás González, Giuliano Simeone, Lautaro Martínez, José Manuel López, Julián Álvarez, Thiago Almada and Nico Paz.