Argentina Copa America squad 2024: Lionel Messi leads list of players in national team roster for USA tournament | Sporting News

Argentina are aiming to make it three successes in as many major tournaments at the Copa America in the United States.

The world champions kicked off a glorious era by beating Brazil on home soil in the final of the 2021 tournament, laying the groundwork for their stirring march to World Cup glory in Qatar, where they beat France on penalties in the final.

Inspirational captain Lionel Messi has returned to try to add another medal to his collection, with head coach Lionel Scaloni once again tasked with blending youth and experience into a winning formula.

On June 15, Scaloni named his 26-man squad for Argentina’s tournament this summer. Messi, of course, was included, but there were one or two more surprising decisions.

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How many players are in Copa America 2024 squads?

Teams had the opportunity to name provisional squads of up to 55 players for pre-tournament training camps and friendly matches. These groups had to be a minimum of 35 players and contain at least four goalkeepers.

The final rosters, which were confirmed by June 15 (except for Paraguay, who had until June 18), comprise a maximum of 26 players. At least three of these players must be goalkeepers, and they must all be selected from the provisional squad, except in exceptional circumstances.

Argentina Copa America squad 2024: Official roster

Here is the full squad named for Argentina’s 2024 Copa America.

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez made the cut despite an injury-ruined season, although there was no place for Paulo Dybala.

Ages, caps are correct as of provisional squad announcement on May 20, 2024.

Can Argentina replace players on Copa America roster?

Competition regulations state that once the final roster has been made official, changes can only be made due to injury or illness up until the team’s opening match of the tournament.

CONMEBOL’s tournament regulations also state: “In case of serious injury or detection of pathological clinical elements of any player, after the submission of the squad list, and which prevents the player from playing in the tournament, the replacement of such player by another player included in the provisional squad list will be allowed up to 24 hours before the first match of the team in the competition, subject to the approval of the CONMEBOL Medical Commission.”

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Argentina Copa America 2024 schedule, matches

Argentina played two Copa America warm-up matches in early June against Ecuador (on June 9) and Guatemala (June 14).

They beat Ecuador 1-0 thanks to Angel Di Maria’s first-half strike before they went on to put four past Guatemala, where Messi bagged a brace. 

Their tournament then began against Canada at Mercedes Benz Stadium on June 20 — the opening match of Group A and the competition as a whole — before they faced Chile at MetLife Stadium and Peru at Hard Rock Stadium.

Argentina Copa America 2024 match schedule

COPA AMERICA 2024 TICKETS: Click here for cheapest seats at Argentina matches