Argentina call up 6 Italy-based players for World Cup qualifiers

Buenos Aires: Argentina called up six Italy-based players for the team's first two World Cup qualifiers despite the country's lockdown to combat the coronavirus.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi was also included in the squad, despite Argentina having imposed restrictions on people traveling from Italy, Spain, Germany and France.

Those travelers are supposed to be quarantined for 14 days, regardless of showing symptoms or not. It was unclear how Argentina's soccer federation will handle those cases.

Argentina starts its campaign to reach the 2022 World Cup on March 26 against Ecuador in Buenos Aires, but Messi is suspended for that game. However, is eligible to play against Bolivia in La Paz on March 31.

Squad: Goalkeepers: Juan Musso (Udinese). Defenders: Nehuén Pérez (Famalicao), Nicolás Otamendi (Manchester City), Renzo Saravia (Internacional), Germán Pezzella (Fiorentina), Nicolás Tagliafico (Ajax), Leonardo Balerdi (Borussia Dortmund). Midfielders: Guido Rodríguez (Real Betis), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Roberto Pereyra (Watford), Rodrigo De Paul (Udinese), Marcos Acuña (Sporting Lisbon), Leandro Paredes (Paris Saint-Germain), Nicolás Domínguez (Bologna), Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham), Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton). Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Sergio Agüero (Manchester City), Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla), Lucas Alario (Bayer Leverkusen), Nicolás González (Stuttgart), Paulo Dybala (Juventus) and Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan).