Injured in training, Balerdi ruled out of World Cup with Argentina

Leonardo Balerdi will not play in the 2026 World Cup. The 27-year-old OM centre-back suffered a training injury with the Argentine national team and will be sidelined for a month, according to Argentine journalist Nacho Rivarola. His official withdrawal is expected in the coming hours, ten days before the world champions’ first match against Algeria.

The news is all the more cruel as Balerdi had just been selected by Lionel Scaloni for the tournament organised in North America (11 June – 19 July), despite a difficult season with OM, both collectively and individually. His Vélodrome teammate Facundo Medina was also selected, a sign that the Albiceleste’s pool of centre-backs remains limited.

The exact nature of the injury has not yet been specified. The 2026 World Cup regulations allow coaches to replace an injured player until the eve of the first official match, subject to FIFA validation. Scaloni will have to draw from his extended pre-selection list established last month.

Several names are circulating to fill this defensive void. 2022 world champion Germán Pezzella, 34, features on this expanded list, as do Lucas Martínez Quarta (River Plate) and Marcos Senesi (Bournemouth), the latter having been one of the notable absences from the initial 26-man squad.

Argentina, the defending champions, will begin their campaign on 16 June in Kansas City against Algeria, before facing Austria and then Jordan in Group J. In the meantime, Lionel Messi and his teammates will play a first warm-up match against Honduras this Saturday in Texas, then a second against Iceland in Alabama in three days.