Argentina pays a visit to the Estadio Defensores del Chaco to square up against Paraguay in the first of the two CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier games it’ll play to close out 2024’s international action.
Lionel Messi will hope to put Inter Miami’s surprising elimination from the MLS Cup playoffs behind him in what will be his final two games of the calendar year.
Messi scored a hat-trick in Argentina’s previous game vs. Bolivia and he currently leads all goal-scorers in South America’s qualifier campaign with six.
It would be a mistake to underestimate Paraguay. La Albirroja surged up to sixth in the standings on the back of a four game unbeaten streak. In its last two home games, Paraguay walked away with the three points against Venezuela and more impressively, Brazil.
Lionel Scaloni will be without two of his regular defensive options as Lisandro Martínez and Germán Pezzela were forced to drop out of the squad because of fitness issues. Emiliano Martínez returns after serving his two-match suspension to reinforce what became a thin back line overnight.
Despite the absences, Scaloni has enough talent to sure up his defense. The main question will be if he decides to play with four midfield players or stick with the three forwards that guided La Albiceleste to a 6–0 victory last time out.
