Argentina vs El Salvador
Argentina will play a couple of International Friendly games during this international break to prepare for their Copa America title defence in June. First up for them are El Salvador, whom they will face on Saturday at the Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL.
It is confirmed that La Albiceleste won’t have Lionel Messi against El Salvador and Costa Rica because of a minor injury he suffered while playing for Inter Miami, but the SBOTOP International Friendly 2024 odds are still overwhelmingly in favour of the defending Copa America champions.
El Salvador are the huge underdogs because they are in poor form, so they might treat this as a final because they are desperate to pick up momentum heading into this match.
Talking Points
Argentina to make way for the youngsters
For most countries, the international break is the perfect time to experiment with different lineups or hand senior debuts to their uncapped players, and Argentina are likely to do the same.
Over the past few months, La Albiceleste are slowly veering away from being over-reliant on Lionel Messi, which will certainly serve them well in the long run.
The good news is that they haven’t skipped a beat when Messi gets the day off because they are, after all, one of the deepest teams in the world.
In their last few games, we have seen the likes of Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Gonzalez, Lautaro Martinez, Alexis Mac Allister, and Enzo Fernandez shouldering the offencive load for Argentina, and such a trend should continue this week.
Lautaro Martinez is arguably the biggest threat to El Salvador’s defence because he is banging in form. With 23 league goals so far this season, the Inter Milan star is the frontrunner for the Serie A Golden Boot.
Argentina are also planning on integrating the likes of Facundo Buonanotte, Valentin Carboni, and Alejandro Garnacho, all of whom have yet to turn 20 and are capable of creating International Friendly 2024 highlights.
Alejandro Garnacho has been one of the brightest spots for Manchester United this season, having recorded seven goals and four assists so far. Facundo Buonanotte, on the other hand, has been important for Brighton too, and he already has four goals and one assist.
Centre-back Lisandro Martinez was called up even if he hasn’t played for Manchester United since he is on the mend, but we envision Lionel Scaloni giving Nehuen Perez playing time this week to join Nicolas Tagliafico, Nahuel Molina, and Cris Romero in the four-man backline.
El Salvador couldn’t buy a goal
One reason why La Selecta are struggling mightily is because they don’t have the firepower to keep up with their opponents. In their last three outings, El Salvador have only scored once, which was against a non-FIFA team in Bonaire a while ago.
David Doniga’s biggest threat up front is their 33-year-old striker Nelson Bonilla, who currently plies his trade in Thai League 1 for Sukhothai.
With 19 goals in 57 caps, Nelson Bonilla is joint-fourth on El Salvador’s all-time scoring list alongside Jose Maria Rivas and Juan Francisco Barraza. So, if he scores this week, he’ll be able to claim solo fourth place.
History
La Albiceleste and La Selecta are set to square off for the first time in a long while. Before Thursday, Argentina won twice against El Salvador, back-to-back 2-0 results in the 1982 World Cup and an International Friendly in 2015.
In terms of recent form, Argentina have the clear edge over El Salvador, as they have only tasted defeat once in their last 16 matches across all competitions, a key reason why they’re on top of the CONMEBOL table in the World Cup 2026 qualifiers with 15 points after six matchdays.
Their last loss was a 2-0 result against Uruguay in November, as Ronald Araujo and Darwin Nunez found the back of the net.
Ahead of the Copa America in June, Argentina are planning to become the fourth nation in tournament history to successfully complete a repeat. The last team that managed to do so was Chile in 2016.
Other than the Copa America, Argentina are also looking to defend their World Cup title in 2026.
In stark contrast, El Salvador are winless in their last 17 matches across all competitions. They are currently at the bottom of League A Group A in the CONCACAF Nations League with only one point.
La Selecta earned their only point in the continental tournament by holding Martinique to a goalless draw last October.
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