Mauritania and Zambia will be the Argentine men’s national football team rivals in its last friendly matches ahead of the World Cup, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) confirmed on Friday.

After the cancellation of the Finalissima against Spain due to scheduling disagreements and FIFA’s refusal to allow Guatemala to play in different continents in the same international window, Argentina will host with Mauritania on March 27 and later face Zambia on the 31. Both matches will be played at Boca Juniors’ La Bombonera stadium.

Tickets for the game against Mauritania start at AR$90,000 (just under US$64) and go as high as ARS$490.000 (nearly US$348). Tickets for the second match are not available at the time of writing, but are expected to go out at similar rates.

What to expect from Argentina in these games?

While the core of the Argentina team that won the title at the Qatar 2022 World Cup will remain, it’s clear that head coach Lionel Scaloni will be testing out some alternatives against Mauritania and Zambia.

Ranked 115th and 91st in the FIFA World Rankings, both African nations are expected to provide more of a safe sparring partner. The Argentine team, then, would focus mostly on which players can make the definitive list for the upcoming World Cup.

The main face-off will be between strikers José López and Joaquín Panichelli for the spot behind Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez as the third striker for Argentina.

Panichelli was initially left out of the list when the match against Guatemala was announced, but Scaloni has since added him, as he now has a full extra 90 minutes to see him in action. The 23-year-old scored two goals with Racing Strasbourg over the weekend, becoming the French football league’s leading top scorer for the current season in the process. 

López scored 25 goals in 64 games playing for Palmeiras in Brazil’s last season, so Scaloni will have a tough choice in his hands. While the decision is unlikely to come solely as the result of either’s performance against Mauritania and Zambia, pleasing the coach could help any of them take the lead in the race.

Meanwhile, youngsters like Valentín Barco, Exequiel Palacios, Nicolás Paz, Gianluca Prestianni and Franco Mastantuono will be trying to make their case for a spot in the final 26-player squad.

It will also likely be the last time Argentine superstar Lionel Messi features for the national team, so the team captain and icon is bound to get his moment to shine in front of the loving fans.

© Buenos Aires Herald