The reasons why Alejandro Garnacho was left out of the final list

In the lead-up to the matches against Uruguay and Brazil, Garnacho had been included in the preliminary list of 33 players, but was later left out of the final roster of 26 players. Meanwhile, the injuries of Lionel Messi, Paulo Dybala, Giovanni Lo Celso, and Gonzalo Montiel were joined yesterday by Lautaro Martínez due to a grade one tear in his left hamstring. Along with Garnacho, the other two players excluded for football reasons were Claudio "El Diablito" Echeverri and Francisco Ortega, who will follow the matches from Europe.

Garnacho's exclusion from the final draft caused a great stir, especially due to the absences of Messi and Dybala, and the last-minute withdrawal of Lautaro Martínez for the matches at the Centenario and the Monumental.

Despite this context, Scaloni chose not to include him in the final list. The decision is solely based on his level of play, both in the eight matches played with the Senior National Team and in his performances at Manchester United. "Additionally, Scaloni wanted to reward the very good form of other players, like Benjamín Domínguez and Santiago Castro in Bologna, and that's why he called them," commented someone close to the Argentine coach. He also added: "Scaloni wants Garnacho to raise his performance because he considers him a player with enormous potential."

Scaloni will probably explain the reasons for Garnacho's absence, whom he has always considered the youth with the greatest projection among those playing in European football, in his conference today at noon.

Garnacho in the Argentine National Team

From the beginning, Garnacho's playing style caught Scaloni's attention, who gave him the opportunity to debut with the Senior National Team at 18 years old. His debut took place on June 15, 2023, in a 2-0 victory against Australia at the Workers' Stadium in Beijing, China. In that match, he entered at the 18th minute of the second half, replacing Nicolás González.

Since his debut with the senior team, Garnacho has played eight matches with the Argentine jersey, although he has yet to score any goals. In fact, his performances with the National Team have been below the level he usually shows at Manchester United.

His last match with the National Team was on November 14 of last year, in Argentina's 2-1 defeat against Paraguay at the Defensores del Chaco. That night in Asunción, Lionel Scaloni decided to give minutes to Alejandro Garnacho, who entered at the 18th minute of the second half in place of Mac Allister, when the team was already trailing. However, his efforts to excel in one-on-one situations did not yield results, and he failed to create any goal-scoring opportunities. From the bench, Scaloni hinted at his dissatisfaction with some expressive gestures, reflecting that he was not pleased with the performance of the 20-year-old, born in Madrid and naturalized Argentine.

For the classics against Uruguay and Brazil, Scaloni prioritized other forwards over Garnacho in his consideration: Julián Álvarez, Giuliano Simeone, Ángel Correa, Benjamín Domínguez, and Santiago Castro (Lautaro Martínez had also been drafted but was excluded due to injury).