Argentina World Cup opener now looks like a selection puzzle

Argentina's World Cup opener has shifted from injury watch to choice overload. Lionel Scaloni said Lionel Messi, Emiliano Martínez and Julián Alvarez are all available, Argentina say there are no injured players in the squad, and only Nicolas Tagliafico is still under final monitoring. That is a better problem than the one they seemed to have a few days ago, especially with Argentina carrying a seven-match winning run into the tournament.

How Scaloni has changed the mood

Scaloni did not sound like a coach trying to manage a crisis. “Calm because it's just a game of football,” he said, adding that the first game is important but does not end with the first game. He also said, “We are good, we are calm,” and that everyone wants to see Messi on the field.

That confidence matters because the squad is not being held together by emergency calls. Scaloni said Martínez is available for tomorrow and that Álvarez has recovered well from an ankle problem, making him an option again. When he added that he has always found the starting XI difficult to create because of the quality in the squad, he was really admitting the obvious: this is a selection headache, not a fitness one.

Argentina open against Algeria on 17 June 2026, so the update lands at the right time. If Messi starts, it will be because Scaloni can afford to pick him, not because he is gambling on a half-fit squad.

Why the wider pressure still sits in the background

There is still a reason Scaloni keeps stressing calm. Javier Zanetti said it is very difficult to repeat a World Cup, and that holding the trophy comes with a different kind of pressure. Argentina know the quality is there, but that does not make the title defence any easier.

The comparison with Brazil is useful because their build-up has looked much less settled. Carlo Ancelotti said Neymar is working hard to recover and could rejoin group training next week, but the expectation is that he will miss the opening game against Morocco. Brazil also opened with a 1-1 draw in Brazil vs Morocco, a reminder that injury news sits inside actual match problems, not just headlines.

For Argentina, the problem is the opposite. Messi is fit, Martínez is available, Álvarez is back in contention, and Tagliafico is the only player still being checked. Scaloni can settle on a line-up with genuine options, which is exactly where a champion would rather be before the first game.