Nahuel Molina and Nicolás González are doubtful for Argentina against Peru in the 2026 Eliminatories.

On matchday 4 of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers, the Peruvian national team will face Argentina at home on Tuesday, October 17. In that vein, the squad led by Lionel Scaloni could suffer two new absences as two of their starting players are doubtful to set foot on the Estadio Nacional turf. Here we tell you all the details and also who would replace them.

The doubts in Lionel Scaloni's squad are Nahuel Molina and Nicolás González, who have been starters for the Albiceleste and have some physical problems, so they probably won't be against the Peruvian national team in their visit to Lima, at least not from the start. To be precise, the right-back made a wrong move in the last practice of the Argentine team, while the winger suffered a hard blow to his instep during the match against Paraguay.

Still, the coach of the current world champion has decided to wait for both players until the end, so they may be on the bench and enter depending on how the match is going. On the other hand, Lionel Scaloni wasted no time and already has the perfect alternatives for Nahuel Molina and Nicolás González.

And in case they are not at 100% to face Peru, Argentina would start with Gonzalo Montiel in place of the defender and Lucas Ocampos for the forward. On the other hand, it is also not clear if Lionel Messi will start as a starter in this match or enter in the second half as he did against the Albirroja, as in the case he starts from the beginning, Julián Álvarez will be sacrificed.

Aside from Molina and González, the Argentine national team has had several absences for this double matchday of the qualifiers, as these players couldn't play against Paraguay and won't be able to do it against Peru either: Juan Foyth, Paulo Dybala, Ángel Di María, Lisandro Martínez, and Ángel Correa.

This Monday, three absences were confirmed in the Peruvian national team, as besides not being able to count on Raúl Ruidíaz and Gianluca Lapadula due to injury, Marcos López, Carlos Zambrano, and Christofer Gonzales won't be available either.

Peruvian national team: Pedro Gallese; Luis Advíncula, Anderson Santamaría, Luis Abram, Nilson Loyola; Wilder Cartagena, Yoshimar Yotún, André Carrillo; Andy Polo, Franco Zanelatto, and Paolo Guerrero.

Argentine national team: Emiliano Martínez; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Nicolás Tagliafico; Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister; Julián Álvarez, Lautaro Martínez, and Nicolás González.