Lionel Messi Faces Unexpected Setback as Key Teammates Bow Out of Farewell Match—What This Means for Argentina’s Final Showdown

With both players sidelined, Argentina will host Bolivia on September 30 at Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in Córdoba, before returning to the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires to face Burkina Faso on October 3 and Benin on October 6, the date set for Messi’s farewell appearance in the Albiceleste shirt.

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Lionel Messi’s Argentina farewell takes shape and boss Lionel Scaloni has one major regret

Argentina won’t call up replacements for Almada and Foyth

Following the injuries to Almada and Foyth, Argentina could bring in two other players as replacements, but it doesn’t appear to need them. That’s because head coach Lionel Scaloni had already added six players from the Argentine league and three from abroad to the original list, pushing the squad to 37 names.

Almada was one of the six local additions, joining Nicolás Otamendi, Santiago Beltrán, Tobías Andrada, Leonel Flores, and Tomás Palacios, while Equi Fernández, Santiago Simón, and Valentín Gómez were the players added from abroad.

With such a deep squad already in place, Scaloni can comfortably absorb the losses of Almada and Foyth without disrupting his plans for the farewell window. Otamendi’s case remains the one exception worth noting, as the defender was called up despite having already retired from the national team, brought back solely for his own send-off alongside Messi on October 6 against Benin.

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