Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at how Argentina could line up for Tuesday’s Copa America clash with Chile.
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Argentina‘s captain Lionel Messi set another record in his illustrious career on Thursday, appearing in his 35th Copa America fixture, surpassing the late Chilean goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone for the most all-time caps at this tournament.
As you might expect, he was a key contributor to their 2-0 victory against Canada on matchday one, assisting on their second goal.
This gives the Inter Miami skipper 50 goal contributions in 33 competitive matches for club and country on American soil.
After a splendid domestic campaign at Manchester City, Julian Alvarez justified his place in the starting 11, scoring his eighth goal with La Seleccion, which held up as the winner.
Lautaro Martinez, the top scorer in Serie A this past season, maintained his strong form in front of goal in their opener, scoring for the third time in his last two games with the national team.
Emiliano Martinez collected his second clean sheet in three competitive fixtures, while he has only conceded one goal in his last six Copa America matches between the sticks.
Angel Di Maria, who scored the winner in the 2021 Copa America final, will likely have another opportunity to surpass Gonzalo Higuain for sixth in all-time goals with the national team on Tuesday.
If his Benfica teammate Nicolas Otamendi is to move to within one cap of Roberto Ayala for fifth all-time, it will likely be as a substitute on Tuesday after Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez proved to be a solid centre-back partnership on matchday one.
Alejandro Garnacho and Enzo Fernandez will be pushing to make their first-ever appearances at the Copa America, but both were on the bench against Canada, with the latter recovering from a groin strain ahead of this tournament.
Nicolas Gonzalez, who has started six of their seven 2026 World Cup qualifying fixtures, was an unused substitute for a second match running on Thursday.
Argentina possible starting lineup:
E. Martinez; Molina, Romero, Li. Martinez, Acuna; Di Maria, De Paul, Lo Celso, Mac Allister; Messi, Alvarez
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