Argentina announce provisional squad for Copa America 2024; Lionel Messi to lead defending champions

Paulo Dybala couldn’t make the cut for the preliminary squad

Argentina have named their 29-man provisional squad for the upcoming friendlies and Copa America 2024. A final 26-player squad will be announced later on.

Enzo Fernandez, a midfielder for Chelsea, was recently added to Argentina‘s preliminary team for the Copa America this summer.

With a successful campaign finale that saw the Blues finish in the top six and perhaps qualify for the Europa League, the 23-year-old missed the last six games of the season.

Fernandez underwent surgery last month to address a hernia problem, which he said had been bothering him for the previous six months. The former Benfica player was always a favourite to be healthy in time for the competition, which gets underway in the US on Thursday, June 20, 2024.

Giovani Lo Celso, a midfielder for Tottenham, was named as well despite not travelling with the team for their playoff friendly with Newcastle in Melbourne earlier this week.

World champions Argentina will take on Ecuador and Guatemala in June before beginning their sporting quest on Friday, June 21, where they are going to defend the Copa America title they won in 2021.

“As long as I feel good and I can continue to deliver, I’m going to (continue playing with Argentina). All I’m thinking about today is getting to the Copa América and being able to play in it,” he had said in the documentary ‘Champions, A Year Later’.

“Then time will tell whether I’ll be at the World Cup or not. I’m going to be at an age (39) that normally doesn’t allow me to play in the World Cup.”

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Argentina provisional squad

Goalkeepers: Franco Armani (River Plate), Geronimo Rulli (Ajax), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)

Defenders: Gonzalo Montiel (Nottingham Forest), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), Leonardo Balerdi (Marseille), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), German Pezzella (Real Betis), Lucas Martinez (Fiorentina), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Marcos Acuna (Sevilla), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Valentin Barco (Brighton)

Midfielders: Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis), Leandro Paredes (AS Roma), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea), Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham)

Forwards: Angel Di Maria (Benfica), Valentin Carboni (Monza), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid), Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United), Nicolas Gonzalez (Fiorentina), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), Julian Alvarez (Manchester City)

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