Argentina no longer reliant on Messi, believes Scaloni

Lionel Scaloni believes Argentina have learned to cope with Lionel Messi’s absences ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Colombia on Wednesday.

Argentina have already qualified for the 2026 World Cup after a 4-1 thrashing of rivals Brazil back in March, and are 10 points clear of Ecuador in the CONMEBOL table.

Messi had not featured for Argentina since last November before making a substitute appearance in last Friday’s 1-0 win over Chile, a win sealed by Julian Alvarez.

Since making his senior debut for the Albiceleste in 2005, no player has made more appearances (192), scored more goals (112) or ed more assists (58) than Messi.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has also lifted four major honours for Argentina, which includes their World Cup triumph in 2022 and two Copa America titles.

But despite all his achievements on the international stage, Scaloni believes that the team are in a good place should Messi be unavailable to him in the future.

“The team is in a moment where it can play in the same way with or without Leo, which used to be more complex in the past as we had to change some players,” Scaloni said.

“But now we don’t have this necessity and the team works in the same way, that’s good.”

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With Argentina one of only 10 teams to have qualified for the World Cup, which takes place across the United States, Mexico and Canada next summer.

Colombia currently occupy the final automatic qualification spot, three points clear of Venezuela with three games of the qualifying campaign remaining.

Nestor Lorenzo’s team beat Argentina 2-1 when the sides last met in the World Cup qualifiers in September, and Scaloni is wary of the threat they possess.

“It’s a great team, and with great players, and it has a clear style that can put you in trouble,” Scaloni said.

“We’ve analysed it, we’ve shown the players their strengths and what we want to take advantage of.

“It’s going to be a nice game, especially because we play at home, so it’s good for our people to see the players.”