Football great Lionel Messi remains the centre of attraction in the Argentina squad as the side aims to defend its FIFA World Cup title.

Lionel Messi will captain Argentina at the FIFA World Cup 2026, national coach Lionel Scaloni announced Thursday as he unveiled his 26-man squad.

The France World Cup winner rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team that has been so defensively fragile for much of the campaign.

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Alexis Mac Allister and Lautaro Martinez bagged braces for Argentina.

Julian Alvarez, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister and Giuliano Simeone sealed an emphatic win for the world champions.

Real Madrid sit 24th in the UEFA Champions League table, the last position to qualify for the knockout stage.

Even Jurgen Klopp, Kenny Dalglish, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley were unable to muster as many wins at the start of their spells in charge of the Reds.

Liverpool sit two points clear of second placed Manchester City and can extend that gap to five points with a victory over Bournemouth on Sunday.

Spurs are just two points behind Liverpool and claimed an impressive 2-2 draw away to Arsenal last weekend.