Young attacker Franco Mastantuono, the 17-year-old wonderkid from River Plate, has been called up by coach Lionel Scaloni as part of the 28-man Argentina national team squad set to face Chile and Colombia in the upcoming World Cup 2026 qualifiers. The list also features the return of Lionel Messi, while Alejandro Garnacho misses out once again.

Mastantuono earned his call-up after an impressive Apertura campaign, with seven goals and four assists so far — including a stunning free-kick in the last Superclásico against Boca Juniors. He’s one of just three locally based players included, along with Kevin Lomónaco (Independiente) and the surprise pick: center-back Mariano Troilo from Belgrano de Córdoba.

Messi’s back, Garnacho left out

Also joining the squad is Enzo Barrenechea (Valencia), who had been called up before but didn’t get any game time. These four come in to replace Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Nicolás Domínguez (Nottingham Forest), Garnacho (Manchester United), and Valentín Castellanos (Lazio), with the latter two left out for tactical reasons.

Alongside Messi’s return — he missed the last call-up due to a muscle injury — the list includes five players from Atlético Madrid (Rodrigo De Paul, Nahuel Molina, Julián Álvarez, Ángel Correa, and Giuliano Simeone), plus Giovani Lo Celso from Real Betis and Juan Foyth from Villarreal. Another standout is Valentín Barco (Strasbourg), who’s shaping up to be the backup for Nicolás Tagliafico at left-back.

On the flip side, Benjamín Domínguez and Santiago Castro — who were part of the last squad and recently won the Coppa Italia with Bologna — were not selected this time around. La Albiceleste, already qualified for the World Cup and sitting top of the table with 31 points, will face Chile away on June 5 and Colombia at home on June 10. After that, they’ll host Venezuela in September before wrapping up qualifiers with a trip to Ecuador.