In Argentina’s World Cup qualifying campaign, Alexis Mac Allister played a pivotal role as they secured a 3-0 victory over Chile in Buenos Aires.
The Liverpool midfielder, wearing the No. 10 shirt, lined up alongside Enzo Fernandez and Rodrigo De Paul in midfield. This match also marked a special occasion as Argentina bid farewell to the retiring Angel Di Maria.
Mac Allister was deployed in a more advanced position and made an impact early in the second half, netting the first goal just three minutes after the restart. His strike came at the end of a fluid team move that involved De Paul, Julian Alvarez, and Lautaro Martinez, who cleverly dummied the ball to set up the chance.
However, Mac Allister’s night was cut short after he began experiencing discomfort, which led to him being substituted in the 79th minute. Nico Gonzalez had similarly been forced off shortly after the second half began. Paulo Dybala came on for Mac Allister and later added the final goal of the game, following Alvarez’s second strike.
After the match, Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni admitted uncertainty regarding the availability of both Mac Allister and Gonzalez for their upcoming game against Colombia. “We don’t yet know how Nico and Alexis are doing,” Scaloni said, according to reports from Ole. “They left the game due to discomfort, so we’ll have to see if they’ll be ready to face Colombia.”
Prior to this, Mac Allister had already missed some training sessions due to load management concerns, raising questions about his fitness for both Argentina and Liverpool. Liverpool have already seen Harvey Elliott return early from international duty, and their manager, Arne Slot, will be hoping Mac Allister’s injury isn’t serious, given his importance to the team.
Despite the potential setbacks, Argentina continues to dominate the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. They currently sit comfortably at the top of the standings, five points ahead of Uruguay, though having played one game more.
As reigning World Cup and Copa America champions, Argentina’s success in recent years has been in no small part thanks to the contributions of key players like Mac Allister.
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