FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 QUALIFIERS
Why is Ángel Di María not playing for Argentina against Peru in the World Cup qualifiers?
Former Real Madrid winger Di María captained La Albiceleste in Lionel Messi’s absence in September’s wins over Ecuador and Bolivia.
Most of the pre-match talk ahead of Argentina’s World Cup qualifying double header has surrounded the fitness of Inter Miami star Lionel Messi. The seven-time Ballon d’Or aggravated an old scar tissue injury in the September international break but made his MLS return for The Herons before the October window and also came off the bench in last Thursday’s FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier against Paraguay. The discussion has now moved on to whether he will start on Tuesday against Peru, but one man who definitely won’t is former Real Madrid star Ángel Di María.
The 35-year-old has won the overwhelming majority of his 134 Argentina caps alongside Messi, eight months his senior. The duo have teamed up to lead La Albicelesete to an Olympic Gold medal in 2008, the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 Finalissima and, of course, the 2022 World Cup. They will not, however, be joining forces once more as the world champions continue their qualifying campaign in Lima.
What injury does Di María have? How long will he be out?
Argentina kicked off qualification with a 1-0 victory over Ecuador, thanks to a Messi free-kick, and a 3-0 win away to Bolivia. Di María captained his country in the Inter Miami star’s absence in the second of those games and also took the armband after his teammate was forced off in the first.
But it was the Benfica winger’s turn to be struck down by injury in the Champions League defeat to Inter at San Siro a couple of weeks ago. The ex-Madrid man, who has scored five goals in six league matches since returning to Portugal, suffered a thigh injury in Milan and although it isn’t expected to keep him on the sidelines for too long, he didn’t feature against Paraguay and won’t be involved in Peru either.
Why is Pablo Dybala not playing for Argentina against Peru?
To make matters worse for head coach Lionel Scaloni, Paulo Dybala, a possible replacement for Di María, was forced to pull out of the squad after taking a blow to his knee in Roma’s win over Cagliari in Serie A before the start of the international break.
Defenders Lisandro Martínez and Juan Foyth, as well as attacker Ángel Correa, are the other injury absentees from the roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.