Major League Soccer may have bagged a new fan, Lionel Scaloni, the Argentine national team manager has never been shy about calling in an Argentine suiting up for an MLS side, and for his latest national team roster, Scaloni called up three players, the most called up by Argentina ever for MLS as a league.
Historically Lionel Scaloni and his staff have called in players from MLS, dating back to a shock call for Valentín “Taty” Castellanos during his NYCFC days and playing for the U-23’s. The reality is that MLS has been spending a lot more to bring in top South American talent and as time has gone by more and more current MLS players are getting calls from two of South America’s top three national teams, Argentina and Uruguay.
MLS has yet to have a representative play for Brazil but has been a steady contributor to all of Conmebol’s national teams.
MLS players called in by Argentina
The roster put out by Lionel Scaloni is for Argentina’s two 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay at home on October 12th and on the road to Peru on the 17th. The MLS players called in by Argentina are:
Lionel Messi: A no brainer, the best player on the planet and now Inter Miami superstar is recovering from a nagging injury but is slated to return prior to World Cup qualification.
Facundo Farías: The new Inter Miami star was already a key player in the Argentine league with Colon prior to his arrival, Facundo Farías has started off well for Inter Miami and will be allocated for U-23 duty.
Thiago Almada: Atlanta United star Thiago Almada has been one of the best players in MLS in the 2023 season. Almada currently has 11 goals and 16 assists and has been a consistent call up by Scaloni. Almada has 1 goal in 4 caps for Argentina.