Seven Serie A players have been included in Lionel Scaloni’s latest Argentina national team squad, including a hat-trick of Roma representatives, but not Giallorossi starman Paulo Dybala.
Argentina will be in action in a series of friendlies against Bolivia (September 30), Burkina Faso (October 3) and Benin (October 6) and will be calling upon the services of seven Serie A players over the next few weeks.
Inter captain and talisman Lautaro Martinez is one of the least-surprising inclusions: He has scored two goals from three appearances in Serie A at the start of the 2026-27 season, is the reigning Capocannoniere and he and his Nerazzurri teammates currently find themselves joint-top of the league table with a 100% win record.
Roma also have a 100% win record after four matches of the Serie A season. Three Giallorossi stars have made the cut as well: Summer signing Leonardo Balerdi at centre-back, fellow new-boy Santiago Castro at centre-forward and attacker Matias Soule. It is a first call-up for both Soule and Castro.
Despite his fantastic Serie A form, Dybala has not been included and has not featured for the Argentina national team since 2024. The suspended Nahuel Molina has not been called up either.
Como’s Nico Paz is fast-becoming a regular in the Argentina squad. The recently-turned 22-year-old already has 11 caps to his name and there have even been suggestions that he could don Lionel Messi’s iconic no.10 jersey once the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner bids his final farewell to international football.
19-year-old Fiorentina star Franco Mastantuono, on loan from Real Madrid, has also been rewarded with a call-up after his hat-trick in La Viola’s entertaining 4-2 victory away against Venezia on Friday evening.
Lastly Nico Gonzalez, back in the fold with Juventus after his 2025-26 loan spell with Atletico Madrid, has also been included. He scored his first Serie A goal of the season in a 2-0 win against Parma on what was his first outing of the campaign.
Seven Serie A players included in latest Argentina squad
Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez (Chelsea), Juan Musso (Atletico Madrid), Geronimo Rulli (Manchester City).
Defenders: Agustin Giay (Palmeiras), Leonardo Balerdi (Roma), Cristian Romero (Atletico Madrid), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Juan Foyth (Villarreal), Facundo Medina (Bayer Leverkusen), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Roman Vega (Zenit St Petersburg).
Midfielders: Enzo Fernandez (Man City), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Valentin Barco (Chelsea), Giovani Lo Celso (Real Betis), Exequiel Palacios (Ipswich Town), Rodrigo De Paul (Inter Miami).
Attackers: Nico Paz (Como), Franco Mastantuono (Fiorentina), Matias Soule (Roma), Giuliano Simeone (Atletico Madrid), Nico Gonzalez (Juventus), Gianluca Prestianni (Benfica), Jose Manuel Lopez (Palmeiras), Santiago Castro (Roma), Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid), Lautaro Martinez (Inter), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami).
https://twitter.com/Argentina/status/2099954155125121195
