ACUÑA AND OCAMPOS RETURN TO ARGENTINA SQUAD TO FACE PARAGUAY AND PERU

After missing out in September, Lionel Scaloni's latest squad sees a Sevilla contingent return to the Argentina set-up. On this occasion, Marcos Acuña and Lucas Ocampos are the players that have been selected for the reigning World Champions who are looking to build on a strong start to qualification for the next World Cup in 2026 after winning their opening two games. 

Argentina will first take on Paraguay at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires on Thursday 12th October - or 01:00 CEST on Friday 13th for those following from Spain. Next, the team will travel to Lima where they face Peru on the evening of Tuesday 17th or at 04:00 CEST on Wednesday 18th in Spain. 

Brazil and Argentina are the only two South American countries to record two wins in their first two qualifiers. The significance of these wins has been increased by the expansion of the World Cup group stage to 48 teams, a change which now means only the bottom  three South American sides will miss out on qualification while seventh place will face a play-off to reach the competition.