Messi vs Enner Valencia: Argentina national football team vs Ecuador national football team lineups

The Argentine National Team returns to an official match after winning the 2022 World Cup. Scaloni's team had some friendlies after the conquest, but today it officially returns to action to face Ecuador at the start of the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup. The La Albiceleste team wants to start this path on the right foot. You can follow the livestream in each country by the official and licensed TV channels.

In the visiting team, meanwhile, the debuting coach, Félix Sánchez Bas, will also have his star player in the starting eleven. Moisés Caicedo, the most expensive footballer in the history of the Premier League, will take the field from minute one. In addition to Caicedo, Enner Valencia, striker for Internacional in Brazil and goalscorer for Tri in the World Cup in Qatar, will also be part of the team. Because of all of this, the match between Argentina vs Ecuador is set as one of the biggest games for matchday 1.

In the case of the Argentine National Team, few surprises are expected from Scaloni's team. La Albiceleste is positioned in a great way and now, it hopes to establish itself as one of the candidates to win direct tickets to the 2026 World Cup. The team has relied on its captain Lionel Messi, to guide them once again, despite the fact that his presence in the World Cup is not certain.

After the 2022 World Cup Final, Argentina had four friendly matches before this match against Ecuador. The first international friendly for Argentina after winning the FIFA World Cup in 2022 in Qatar was against Panama. The match was played in Argentina, which made the first match emotional since the fans of Argentina were very happy to receive the player who won the country's third World Cup trophy in its history. Messi and the rest of the players were very emotional when the national anthem played, and the whole stadium sang it with pride. The World Cup trophy was in the stadium as well, and celebrations were held after the game against Panama. To top things off, Argentina defeated Panama 2-0 as Thiago Almada and Lionel Messi scored the goals.

Their next friendly match was against Curacao, which was also played in Argentina. This match was an easy game for the World Champions as they defeated Curacao 7-0. Lionel Messi scored an impressive hat trick, and he also provided an assist. Nico Gonzalez scored, and so did Enzo Fernandez. Angel Di Maria scored in the match as well, while Gonzalo Montiel scored in the final match of the game. Montiel was adored by the fans as his penalty kick goal in the penalty shootout against France in Qatar sealed Argentina's World Cup win.

Argentina then played another two friendly matches. One was against Australia, and the other was against Indonesia. The friendly match against Australia was played in China, with over 65,000 fans in attendance at the Workers' Stadium. Argentina won 2-0 with goals from Lionel Messi and German Pezzella. The game against Idonesia was another 2-0 win for the World Champions. The goalscorers were Leandro Paredes and Cristian Romero.

What is the Argentina national football team vs Ecuador national football team lineups?

Shortly before the start of the match, the journalist Gaston Edul announced the line-up, which was later made official by Lionel Scaloni. I drew Emiliano Martinez; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Otamendi, Nico Tagliafico, Rodri De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister, Nicolas González, Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martinez.

Angel Di Maria is expected to be on the bench along with Julian Alvarez. Coach Lionel Scaloni will likely not play Alejandro Garnacho in this match against Ecuador, who is coached by Felix Sanchez. Finally for the Argentina's team news, another star that Scaloni won't be able to use is Giovani Lo Celso, who is recovering from a last minute injury he had with Tottenham. The World Champions want to begin the World Cup qualifiers on the right track as the road to the World Cup 2026 is underway.