All eyes are on Qatar, with the first match of the FIFA World Cup 2022 due to being played in a little over two weeks. However, the English Premier League still has another matchday of play remaining, with matches only concluding a week before the start of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Argentina are desperate to have their players released early to begin preparations and avoid injury, however, the powers that be in the Premier League are not playing ball.
Argentina ask Premier League clubs directly for player release
🚨 Lionel Messi has asked PSG coach Christophe Galtier to withdraw from the team starting next weekend.
Messi will be available for Argentina starting November 7. He has a priority clause in his contract. This via @FinoYossen. 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/tfA0Clf1Ir
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) November 1, 2022
Tension is rising in the football world, as a country vs club arm wrestle is beginning to develop.
Reports have been made that the Argentine Football Association has officially requested one English Premier League club to release their national players early. This request was denied, and now all of the other clubs in the English Premier League have allegedly been instructed to decline any requests coming from the Argentine Football Association regarding the release of their players.
The dates that Argentina are hoping to have their players excused from appear to be next weekend, the 12th and 13th of November.
As many as eight Argentinian players impacted
Alejandro Garnacho y Lisandro Martínez TITULARES en Manchester United. 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/iWxkMmrol7
— TR SPORTS ® (@TrSports12) November 6, 2022
With FIFA rules favouring the English Premier League clubs, stating that no players are required to be released before the 14th of November, it seems this feud will be an uphill battle for the Argentine Football Association.
Based on the 49-man squad named by Argentina’s coach Lionel Scaloni, as many as eight Argentinian players could be impacted by this decision. The nation has a friendly warm-up match scheduled on the 16th of November against hosts Qatar, however, they could be without a chunk of their squad still. Two Argentinians play for Aston Villa — Emiliano Buendia and Emiliano Martinez, and two for Manchester United — Alejandro Garnacho and Lisandro Martinez, while Cristian Romero, Alexis Mac Allister, Julian Alvarez and Marcos Senesi all represent other English Premier League sides.
The upside of this move by the English Premier League clubs is that the competition will continue to be strong right up until the World Cup break. To learn more or bet on these matches, get tips for the upcoming Premier League matches here. There, you can learn about each team, their line-ups and the favourites coming into the second part of the season.
A short preparation period for Argentina? – no disadvantage!
🇦🇷 Lionel Scaloni: “I’m telling to all the Argentines that this team will give everything on the World Cup.” @Liberotyc pic.twitter.com/m4AAASBkMK
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) November 3, 2022
While Argentina will head into their opening match having only been together as a squad for less than a week, it’s unlikely that this will have too much of an impact since other nations will also be in the same position.
Spare a thought for England, who in their initial World Cup squad, only named one player outside of the English Premier League. This has already taken a toll, with English defender Ben Chilwell pulling up with a hamstring injury late in overtime in Chelsea’s win over Dinamo Zagreb. While the 25-year-old briefly continued playing, he had to be carried from the field after full-time, and now has his World Cup campaign in jeopardy.
Argentina will start their FIFA World Cup 2022 schedule officially against Saudi Arabia on November 22, in what will be a tough game against the local favourites.
