Defending champion Argentina starts as

favorite when South American World Cup

qualifying kicks off
UENOS AIRES (AP) — Lionel Messi and his Argentina lineup will be back on
World Cup duty this week, when their bid to defend the title starts in South American
qualifying.

Argentina will face Moisés Caicedo’s Ecuador on Thursday at the Monumental de

Nuñez Stadium in its first official match since winning the World cup in December.

The last time a World Cup winner played in South American qualifying was in 2003,
when Brazil had to secure its spot in a tournament with 32 teams.

The 2026 edition in the United States, Mexico and Canada is expanding to a 48-team
format, which means the number of direct spots from South America increases from
four to six and the seventh-place team goes into an intercontinental playoff for another
place.

So teams like Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay are almost sure to advance from the
round-robin qualification tournament that runs until September 2025. The new format
has led many top coaches and players to see the tournament as preparation and an
opportunity for renovation rather than a make-or-break competition.

The Argentina squad will be laden with World Cup winners, with the 36-year-old
Messi joined by the likes of goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, defender Nicolás
Otamendi, midfielder Enzo Fernández and striker Julián Álvarez.

Since moving to the U.S. from Europe to join Inter Miami, Messi has scored 11 goals
in MLS and is in good form.

Coach Lionel Scaloni is yet to lose a South American World Cup qualifying match,
with Argentina’s last defeat in the tournament — in 2017 — coming before his tenure
started.

“The start is always complicated,” Scaloni told Argentina’s soccer association

website. “The first round always has its shades. I hope our players get there in shape
and are able to enjoy the match with our people. And we have to compete, that’s what
we like to do.”

Ecuador’s lineup will feature Caicedo, who was recently signed by Chelsea for $146
million, and also include veteran striker Enner Valencia and 16-year-old sensation
Kendry Páez. Its head coach, Félix Sánchez Bas of Spain, will debut in South
American qualifying.

The Ecuador lineup will have the double disadvantage of playing away, and starting
the competition three points behind the other nine teams.

FIFA punished Ecuador with the deduction of three points in South American
qualifying for the falsification of birth information of defender Byron Castillo, who is
of Colombian origin. So even a shocking upset win in Argentina would only get Bas
and his team back to zero.

In other games Thursday, Colombia will play Venezuela and Paraguay takes on Peru.
On Friday, Brazil opens against Bolivia and Uruguay hosts Chile.

The home game against Bolivia will be the first in charge for coach Fernando Diniz,
who has a one-year contract while the five-time World Cup champions wait for Carlo
Ancelotti to leave Real Madrid at the end of the season.

The Selecao is far from settled.

Vinicius Junior has been ruled out because of a hamstring injury; Neymar is returning
after some time on the sidelines and a divisive transfer to Saudi Arabia; Lucas Paquetá
is absent because of a Premier League investigation that linked the midfielder to
gambling; and Antony was dropped after an ex-girlfriend made allegations of assault.

“The first thing to do is to create connections with the players as quickly as possible,
establish good relationships and implement the tactical element day by day,” Diniz
told media upon arrival in the Amazon city of Belem, where Brazil will take on
Bolivia. “It is just a little time, but it is time. We need to know how to seize it.”

Bolivia is one of the six teams in the competition that will have an Argentinian coach
on the bench. Gustavo Costas has been tasked with returning Bolivia to the World
Cup for the first time since 1994.

Veteran Marcelo Bielsa will be in charge of Uruguay after a long spell in European
clubs. He started his job by leaving strikers Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani out of the
squad that will take on Chile at home. Bielsa is using members of Uruguay’s Under-
20 World Cup winning team to rejuvenate the squad.

That was not the case for Chile’s Argentinian coach Eduardo Berizzo, who is bringing
back Arturo Vidal, Gary Medel and Alexis Sánchez.

Néstor Lorenzo, a longtime assistant to José Pekerman, will be Colombia’s head

coach this time. The Argentinian will count on striker Luis Díaz as his main player,
but is also leaving the door open for veterans like James Rodríguez.

Venezuela, the only team of the region that is yet to qualify for a World Cup, also
picked an Argentinian as head coach when it hired Fernando Batista.

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AP sports writer Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer