As reigning champions on both the continental and global stage, 2024 will be an important year for Argentina as they hope to secure one major title and set themselves up to defend the other down the road.
Lionel Messi continues to add milestones and silverware to his legendary career, leading Argentina to new and greater heights almost every time he takes the field.
However, that has built expectations to nearly unmatched heights, and the team will have the weight of trophies on their shoulders as they progress forward in each and every match in the coming year towards the Copa America in the United States.
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With uncertainty at the head coaching position thanks to questions regarding Lionel Scaloni’s future, Argentina enter 2024 with much to gain but also plenty to lose.
Here is a breakdown of their coming games, including warm-up matches for the Copa America and the tournament itself, over the course of 2024.
Lionel Messi and Argentina will have their sights set on defending their Copa America title in 2024, as they contest the CONMEBOL championship in the United States this coming summer. Their opponent for the tournament’s opening match will be Canada, and they will follow that up with games against Chile and Peru before navigating the knockout stage en route to what they hope will be a second straight continental title.
Argentina also must continue to navigate a competitive 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament, sitting atop the standings but under pressure from a resurgent Uruguay and Colombia.
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La Albiceleste took on Ecuador and Guatemala in friendlies before raising the curtain on the Copa America on June 20.
*If necessary, should Argentina qualify for this stage of competition
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Argentina will raise the curtain on the 2024 Copa America in Atlanta with a match against Canada, after the CONCACAF nation emerged from the playoff match against Trinidad and Tobago in March.
They will they travel north to the New York metro area where they will meet Chile, before finishing the group stage in Miami against Peru, where they should have hefty home field advantage.
If Argentina progress as group winners, they will face the runners-up from Group B, from which the winners will be paired with the Group B runners-up in the quarterfinals.
Mexico are the seeded team in Group B, drawn alongside Ecuador, Venezuela, and Jamaica. Should Argentina win Group A, which they will be heavily expected to do so, they will face the runner-up from Group B, which will be one of the harder groups to call.
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Third-place playoff
Final
Argentina sit atop the World Cup qualifying standings through six matches but suffered their first defeat in over a year when they fell to Uruguay in November of 2023, leaving them looking over their shoulder.
For the 2026 World Cup’s expanded field, the top six teams in CONMEBOL qualification earn automatic qualification to the competition, while the seventh-place finisher advances to the latest iteration of the intercontinental playoffs.
*Updated as of latest matches on November 22, 2023.
*Ecuador were deducted 3 points by FIFA decree after fielding an ineligible player in a previous qualification cycle.
Kyle Bonn is a soccer content producer for The Sporting News.
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