Argentina aims to defend World Cup crown behind Messi

Argentina's 2026 squad page still placed Lionel Messi at the center of the defending champions' bid, alongside Lionel Scaloni, Emiliano Martínez, Rodrigo De Paul, Ángel Di María, Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez. FIFA said Argentina swept through the group stage with three straight wins, but the knockout rounds quickly turned into a stress test instead of a march.

Against Egypt, Argentina needed a late own goal to seal a 3-2 victory after extra time. That result exposed the narrowest edge in a title defense: when the tempo rose and the game turned messy, Argentina did not always settle it with a clean final touch from Messi or a fluent spell from open play.

The burden on Argentina carried over from Qatar, where the World Cup ran from 20 November to 18 December 2022, with 32 teams playing 64 matches. Argentina beat France in the final on 18 December after a 3-3 draw and a penalty shootout, and FIFA described Messi as having scored in every stage of the tournament. That run made him the defining figure in the country's modern World Cup story, but it also left the squad with a standard no defending champion can escape.

FIFA identified Argentina as the first CONMEBOL title holder to lift the World Cup in 2022, a milestone that raised the expectation level around Lionel Scaloni's team. FIFA's 2026 preview added that Argentina had reached the knockout stage at every World Cup since 2002, a record of continuity that says as much about the team's resilience as it does about its reputation. The current core still runs through Emiliano Martínez in goal, De Paul in midfield, and the attacking mix around Álvarez, Lautaro Martínez, Di María, Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernández.

Messi remained the most visible symbol of the campaign, but Argentina's title defense was not a simple star-driven procession. The champions had already shown they could win in control and in chaos, and the late own goal against Egypt was a reminder that the line between both could be very thin.