Argentina roster for March 2026: Messi makes squad list for hastily arranged Mauritania, Zambia friendlies

Argentina roster for March 2026: Messi makes squad list for hastily arranged Mauritania, Zambia friendlies originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Argentina will have a March international break after all, as they get set to face Mauritania and Zambia in a pair of hastily arranged friendlies.

The defending World Cup and Copa America champions were meant to play in the Finalissima this month against Spain, but hostilities in the Middle East scuppered the trophy match that was meant to be held in Qatar.

With no solution found for a rearranged date and venue that both national teams could agree upon, the game was cancelled and the federations left to fend for themselves in the final international break before World Cup rosters are announced in late May and early June.

Argentina scrambled to arrange a match against Guatemala on home soil, but that game was nixed by FIFA due to regulations barring teams from playing games across continents in the same international window. With Guatemala due to meet Algeria in Italy, they were not allowed to then travel to South America.

Thus, African minnows Mauritania were called upon, ranking 115th in the world by FIFA, with a match scheduled for March 27. That was followed shortly by 91st-ranked Zambia, who will be the opponents on March 31.

The Sporting News looks at what players have been called in by Lionel Scaloni, who will oversee the group one more time before making a final decision on who will represent the Albiceleste in their attempted title defense this coming summer.

MORE:What the Finalissima is all about — and why it was cancelled

Argentina roster for March 2026 match vs. Mauritania

Scaloni was widely expected to call in a first-choice roster for the Finalissima, and even without the trophy match to navigate, he still brings in a strong group of players as he prepares for the World Cup to come this summer.

Leading the way is Lionel Messi who has started the 2026 season strong with Inter Miami. Also called in are uncapped defenders Tomas Palacios and Gabriel Rojas, while Gianluca Prestianni was a surprise inclusion.

The most notable absence from the roster is Lautaro Martinez, who is still recovering from an injury while playing for Inter Milan. Other names left off include Lisandro Martinez, Giovani Lo Celso, and Emiliano Buendia, while Juan Foyth has a recently-torn ACL that ruled him out of the World Cup. Franco Mastantuono was not initially included, but was brought in late due to a number of injuries suffered recently by those listed on the roster.

Argentina roster for March 2026

Below is the 26-man roster for the Argentina men's national team in their upcoming friendly against Mauricania on March 31, officially announced on March 20.

Prior to the friendlies, injuries forced Gonzalo Montiel and Leonardo Ballerdi to withdraw from the squad. They were replaced by four players, bringing the roster to 28 players. Those added were Franco Mastantuono, Strasbourg striker Joaquin Panichelli, Lucas Martinez Quarta of River Plate, and uncapped Palmeiras right-back Agustin Giay.

Caps correct as of the last match on November 18, 2025.

Pos	Name	Club	Caps
GK	Emiliano Martinez	Aston Villa (ENG)	57
GK	Juan Musso	Atletico Madrid (ESP)	2
GK	Geronimo Rulli	Marseille (FRA)	7
DEF	Leonardo Balerdi	Marseille (FRA)	11
DEF	Valentin Barco	Strasbourg (FRA)	2
DEF	Agustin Giay	Palmeiras (BRA)	0
DEF	Nahuel Molina	Atletico Madrid (ESP)	56
DEF	Gonzalo Montiel	River Plate (ARG)	38
DEF	Nicolas Otamendi	Benfica (POR)	129
DEF	Tomas Palacios	Estudiantes (ARG)	0
DEF	Lucas Martinez Quarta	River Plate (ARG)	15
DEF	Gabriel Rojas	Racing Club (ARG)	0
DEF	Cristian Romero	Tottenham (ENG)	47
DEF	Marcos Senesi	Bournemouth (ENG)	2
DEF	Nicolas Tagliafico	Lyon (FRA)	74
MID	Thiago Almada	Atletico Madrid (ESP)	12
MID	Rodrigo De Paul	Inter Miami (USA)	83
MID	Enzo Fernandez	Chelsea (ENG)	38
MID	Alexis Mac Allister	Liverpool (ENG)	42
MID	Nico Paz	Como (ITA)	6
MID	Exequiel Palacios	Bayer Leverkusen (GER)	37
MID	Leandro Paredes	Boca Juniors (ARG)	76
MID	Maximo Perrone	Como (ITA)	1
FWD	Julian Alvarez	Atletico Madrid (ESP)	49
FWD	Nico Gonzalez	Atletico Madrid (ESP)	48
FWD	Jose Lopez	Palmeiras (BRA)	2
FWD	Lionel Messi	Inter Miami (USA)	196
FWD	Franco Mastantuono	Real Madrid (ESP)	3
FWD	Joaquin Panichelli	Strasbourg (FRA)	1
FWD	Gianluca Prestianni	Benfica (POR)	1
FWD	Giuliano Simeone	Atletico Madrid (ESP)	9

Lionel Messi called in for Argentina in March against Mauritania

There were questions whether 38-year-old Messi would be brought into the Argentina squad for the March international window, as there were arguments to be made for both bringing him in and leaving him off.

Messi has a history of muscle injuries that, at his age, have increased in frequency. Leaving him off the roster for a one-off match against a significantly inferior opponent would allow him to rest and crack on for his club Inter Miami amidst a significant run of fixtures that includes continental play.

However, being their final home match before the World Cup, there are both preparatory and supporter reasons to bring Messi aboard. If he retires from international duty following the World Cup, this could potentially be his last home match for the Albiceleste, unless he does a farewell tour after the tournament.

Additionally, the March international window is traditionally meant for final preparations before the World Cup arrives, as the roster usually reflects a similar player list to that of the FIFA tournament itself. Leaving him off would force the team to play differently from how it will at the World Cup, and therefore render the preparation time somewhat less effective.

In the end, Scaloni decided to bring Messi on, although it remains to be seen how much he will actually play in the match.

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