The Argentine National Team continues with a perfect score in the 2026 World Cup after defeating Austria 2-0 and securing their qualification for the next phase. However, beyond the result, the performance of the team led by Lionel Scaloni is not entirely convincing.
One of the most resonant comments came from Diego Latorre, who made a critical assessment of the current footballing state of the Albiceleste team and established differences with the squad that won the World Cup in Qatar 2022.
The former forward believed that the Argentine National Team has not yet reached the expected level of play despite the two victories obtained at the start of the tournament. “Aside from Messi, I didn’t see the team performing well in the first two matches,” he stated, paying special attention to the performance of the Argentine midfield.
According to his analysis, Scaloni's team shows difficulties in recovering the ball and has yet to find the ideal balance in the central area of the field. In this regard, he mentioned the partnership between Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernández as one of the aspects to improve for the upcoming matches.
Regarding the differences between the current team and the one that lifted the World Cup in Qatar, Latorre was emphatic. In his view, the version of Argentina that consolidated from the third match of the 2022 World Cup offered a more dynamic style of football, with greater offensive variations and a more solid collective structure.
“The team from the last World Cup played a different style of football. It was a team that functioned better in the midfield and had more resources to resolve matches,” he maintained. For the commentator, the current squad concedes unnecessary spaces and relies excessively on individual talents to tilt matches in their favor.
The figure of Lionel Messi once again took a central place in the analysis. Latorre considered that the Argentine captain remains the main footballing argument of the team and the one responsible for unlocking complex situations. “Many times everything ends up depending on Messi taking the ball and creating something different,” he explained.
