Two injury blows, one debut in six days: Argentina arrive at the World Cup with their defence on alert
After losing Balerdi, Argentina call up Senesi from Tottenham. Tagliafico is a doubt for the match against Algeria on June 16.
Argentina arrive at the 2026 World Cup with their defensive unit under pressure. After losing centre-back Balerdi to injury last week, the world champions called up 29-year-old Marcos Senesi to fill the gap. The defender, who came through San Lorenzo and currently plays for Tottenham, was summoned by head coach Lionel Scaloni after several days of deliberation — a sign that the technical staff weighed the available options carefully.
The problems do not end there. According to the newspaper Olé, left-back Nicolás Tagliafico suffered a muscle strain during the victory over Honduras and has been training separately. He was not even named in the squad for the friendly against Iceland and is a doubt for the opening game. For now there is no risk of him being cut from the squad, but his availability against Algeria on June 16 in Kansas City is far from guaranteed.
For a side that Golmetria's model gives a 94.68% chance of advancing from the group stage and a 13.43% probability of winning the title, defensive setbacks before the opening match represent a man-management test for Scaloni. The market, meanwhile, assigns an implied probability of 7.49% to an Argentine title — below what the model projects, pointing to a meaningful divergence between the two readings.
Argentina's schedule is set: they face Algeria on June 16, Austria on June 22, and Jordan on June 27, with the last two fixtures in Dallas. Tagliafico's physical condition over the coming days will be the main thing to watch before kick-off.