Argentina’s business in Miami continues with a match against 155th-ranked Puerto Rico and the whole world expects this to be another easy task for La Albiceleste.
It’s been a while since Puerto Rico have seen any action. The team has been inactive since they exited the 2026 World Cup qualifications in June, once again ending their dreams of an inaugural appearance at a major tournament. And while they beat Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in their latest outing, the Blue Hurricane had not won in five consecutive games. Charlie Trout’s side is ranked 155th in the FIFA World Rankings, a whole 153 places behind Argentina.
La Albiceleste bounced back from the recent defeat in the final round of the CONMEBOL qualifications with a minimal 1-0 over Venezuela, which proved once again to be a complete mismatch, as La Vinotinto barely touched the ball in the 90 minutes of play. Argentina should make light work of beating Puerto Rico, especially knowing that they haven’t lost in 22 consecutive international friendlies, winning 19.
How the bookies view it: Another complete mismatch
Bookmakers ruled out Puerto Rico completely, with the lowest odds we found starting at 40/1. Some bookies even give them above 50/1. The draw is also up there and starting at around 16/1, while you can back Argentina at 1/50, although it makes no sense to do it.
Recent head-to-head: First time in history
Surprisingly, these two nations have never met in any friendlies and Puerto Rico have never played at a major tournament to even consider official meetings. This will also be the Puerto Rico’s first match against a CONMEBOL side since 1978 and they have never won against one in their history either.
Players to watch: Watch out for Atletico’s finest
It makes zero sense for Scaloni to risk his star players against Puerto Rico and we expect an entirely experimental starting line-up. We see the potential in a Nicolas Gonzalez – Giuliano Simeone – Julian Alvarez link-up, as the three are used to playing together in Atletico Madrid and should find a place among the starters for Argentina. Alvarez is the obvious pick, as he already has seven goals and three assists for Atletico this season, so we will back him to score one of La Albiceleste’s goals in this match.
Probable line-ups
Puerto Rico: Cutler, Paris, Calderon, Cardona, Hernandez, Echeverria, Diaz, O’Neill, Ydrach, Rivera, Antonetti
Argentina: Martinez, Montiel, Tagliafico, Balerdi, Otamendi, De Paul, Mac Allister, Moreno, Gonzalez, Simeone, Alvarez
Anything else catch the eye?
This is the perfect opportunity for Scaloni to try some new things with his side, but even if he plays 11 kids, they should be able to beat this Puerto Rico team. Finding good odds for this match is the hardest part, as most markets are useless due to the huge gap in class. For example, BTTS-No is priced at just 1/5.
This means we will also experiment with new picks we wouldn’t normally consider, and we’ve stopped on Over 1.5 goals before Half-Time and Argentina to get a penalty in the match. Puerto Rico’s defence will face 90 minutes of struggles against any Argentinian line-up and it makes sense that there will be mistakes.
GambleAware