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Sports Mole previews Saturday's International Friendlies clash between Argentina and Venezuela, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Argentina will be aiming to return to winning ways when they tackle Venezuela in a friendly on Friday.

The 2022 World Cup winners suffered a 1-0 defeat to Ecuador in their final 2026 World Cup qualifier, but they still managed to comfortably top their section to secure a spot at next year's tournament.

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Match preview

Argentina's 2026 World Cup qualification campaign ended on a disappointing note, losing 1-0 to Ecuador, but they were comfortably the best team in their section, picking up 38 points from 18 matches to finish top, nine points ahead of second-placed Ecuador and some 10 points clear of fifth-placed Brazil.

Lionel Scaloni's side will again be among the favourites to win the prize next year, and it would be some achievement if they could follow on from their penalty-shootout success over France in the 2022 final.

The White and Sky Blues will also take on Puerto Rico during this international period, and the two matches will give head coach Scaloni the opportunity to have a look at a number of squad players.

Argentina have won 25 of their previous 30 matches against Venezuela, including a 3-0 success when the two teams met in a World Cup qualifier in September 2025.

That said, Venezuela actually won the last international friendly between the two sides, running out 3-1 winners in their last non-competitive fixture, which took place in March 2019.

Venezuela have never qualified for the finals of a World Cup, and they will also not be present at the 2026 tournament, falling just short of a spot in the Inter-confederation playoffs.

The Red-Wine boasted a record of four wins, six draws and eight defeats from their 18 qualification fixtures, with 18 points only enough for eighth, two points behind seventh-placed Bolivia.

Oswaldo Vizcarrondo's side will finish the year with friendlies against Argentina, Belize, Nigeria and Canada, and positive results in those four matches would leave the team in a confident mood heading into 2026.

Venezuela are attempting to move the national team into the future, with an incredibly-inexperienced squad being named for the friendlies with Argentina and Belize, meaning that there should be a number of debutants.

Argentina International Friendlies form:

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Argentina form (all competitions):

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Venezuela International Friendlies form:

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Venezuela form (all competitions):

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Team News

Argentina head coach Scaloni will look to hand opportunities to squad players on Friday, but he is also building relationships for the 2026 World Cup, so a strong XI is expected to start here.

Franco Mastantuono is a doubt for the match, as the Real Madrid attacker is currently dealing with hamstring discomfort, so it would be a surprise if he was included.

Lionel Messi could represent Argentina for the 195th time in this international friendly, while there is also expected to be a spot in the final third of the field for the in-form Julian Alvarez.

Messi's spot in the squad is not certain, though, as there have been claims that he could play for Inter Miami against Atlanta United and then link up with Argentina for the Puerto Rico match.

As for Venezuela, the likes of Tomas Rincon and Salomon Rondon have been left out, with a number of youngsters set to be given opportunities to cement a spot in the squad moving forward.

Kevin Kelsy, who plays his club football for Portland Timbers, is set to be included in the final third of the field, while there could also be a start for Jesus Ramirez.

Carlos Faya, Ender Echenique and Wikelman Carmona could be among the debutants for the away team, but there should be experience in the shape of Cristian Casseres, who has 41 caps to his name.

Argentina possible starting lineup:

E Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico; De Paul, Mac Allister; Simeone, E Fernandez; Alvarez, L Martinez

Venezuela possible starting lineup:

Graterol; Ferraresi, Vivas, Balbo, Azuaje, Aramburu; Casseres, Segovia, Andrade; Kelsy, Ramirez

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We say: Argentina 4-0 Venezuela

 

Venezuela's inexperienced squad could find it incredibly difficult against a strong and super-talented Argentina on Friday, and we are expecting this match to end in a comfortable victory for the 2022 World Cup champions.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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