Copa America holders and reigning world champions Argentina will endeavour to maintain their perfect record in Group A when they face Peru at the Hard Rock Stadium in Florida on Saturday night.
While La Albiceleste have already punched their ticket to the knockout rounds, La Blanquirroja must claim maximum points to have any chance of escaping the group stage.
Match preview
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Argentina became the first nation to secure their spot in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Copa America after beating Chile by a narrow 1-0 scoreline in New Jersey on Wednesday.
After scoring as a substitute in La Albiceleste's 2-0 victory over Canada, Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez made an impact off the bench once again against Chile and pounced on a loose ball in a crowded penalty area to slot home a decisive 88th-minute winner.
Lionel Scaloni's side are guaranteed a top-two finish in Group A with a game to spare having already picked up six points out of six, and they know that victory on Sunday will see them consolidate their place at the summit, topping a Copa America group for the first time since 2016.
Ranked first in the world by FIFA, Argentina have impressively lost just two of their last 59 international matches since the summer of 2019 - a surprise 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia at the 2022 World Cup and a 2-0 loss to Uruguay in 2026 World Cup qualifying in November last year.
Since that defeat to Uruguay, Argentina have won their last seven games in all competitions by an aggregate score of 15-2, and they will be confident of success on Saturday as they have not lost any of their previous 16 meetings with Peru.
![Peru head coach Jorge Fossati on June 25, 2024 [IMAGO]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/26/jorge-fossati.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Peru head coach Jorge Fossati on June 25, 2024 [IMAGO]")
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Peru are at risk of exiting the Copa America group stage for the first time since 1995 as they have only accumulated one point from their opening two Group A fixtures against Chile and Canada.
Runners-up in 2019 and semi-finalists in 2021, La Blanquirroja played out a 0-0 draw with Chile on matchday one before suffering a slender 1-0 defeat with 10 men to tournament debutants Canada on Wednesday.
The 59th-minute dismissal of Miguel Araujo for a stud-showing tackle proved costly for Peru and the tight contest in Kansas was decided by a 74th-minute strike from in-demand forward Jonathan David.
Jorge Fossati's side currently sit bottom of Group A, albeit level on points with Chile in third, and know that they must beat Argentina as well as hope that Canada and Chile played out draw to progress to the knockout rounds.
Goals have been hard to come by for Peru, ranked 31st in the world by FIFA, as they have drawn a blank in front of goal in eight of their last 12 international matches; they have also failed to score in each of their last four meetings with Argentina, so success on Saturday could prove challenging.
Team News
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Argentina boss Scaloni, who will serve a touchline ban, has confirmed that changes will be made to his starting lineup and those who did not feature in their opening two group matches "will play" against Peru.
Legendary attacker Lionel Messi has been ruled out of Saturday's contest after tweaking his right hamstring against Chile; the Inter Miami star revealed that the issue is "nothing serious" but he did "find it difficult to move freely" towards the end of the win over Chile, and he will subsequently watch from the sidelines against Peru.
The absence of Messi could see Lautaro Martinez handed his first start of the tournament alongside Julian Alvarez, while Angel di Maria and Alejandro Garnacho will also be pushing to start in attack.
Like Garnacho, Lucas Martinez Quarta, German Pezzella, Exequiel Palacios and Guido Rodriguez are all yet to play a single minute at this summer's tournament and are all in contention to be selected in the first XI.
As for Peru, they will be without the suspended Miguel Araujo following his red card against Canada, so Anderson Santamaria could be brought into the first XI to start alongside Carlos Zambrano and Alexander Callens in a three-man defence.
Luis Advincula watched on as an unused substitute after sustaining an Achilles injury in their opening group fixture, and it remains to be seen whether the 34-year-old will be fit to feature on Saturday - Marcos Lopez could therefore continue at left wing-back.
Three-time Copa America Golden Boot winner and Peru's all-time leading scorer Paolo Guerrero (39 goals) needs one more strike to equal the late Teodoro Fernandez for the most goals scored by a Peruvian in the tournament's history (15).
Argentina possible starting lineup:
Armani; Montiel, Otamendi, Pezzella, Acuna; Mac Allister, Rodriguez, Palacios; Di Maria, La. Martinez, Garnacho
Peru possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Santamaria, Zambrano, Callens; Polo, Pena, Cartagena, Quispe, Lopez; Lapadula, Flores
We say: Argentina 2-0 Peru
Having drawn a blank in front of goal in their first two group games, Peru must find their shooting boots on Saturday if they are to have any chance of claiming the victory that they need to boost their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.
However, it is difficult to envisage a Peruvian triumph in Florida; La Blanquirroja have not beaten Argentina in any competition since securing a 2-1 victory at the 1997 Copa America, and although Scaloni is without Messi and will make changes to his first XI, La Albiceleste should have enough strength in depth to come out on top and seal first position in Group A.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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