/https://sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net/uploads/2026/03/imago1074648915-69c401aa3754d293700274.jpg "New Tottenham defender Marcos Senesi replaced injured Argentina defender in World Cup squad - Sports Mole")
New Tottenham Hotspur defender Marcos Senesi has received a late call-up to Argentina's 2026 World Cup squad.
The 29-year-old was left out of Lionel Scaloni's initial 26-man squad despite enjoying a successful season with Bournemouth.
The centre-back started all 37 Premier League games for which he was available as Bournemouth secured a sixth-place finish and European football for the first time in the club's history.
However, he will not be with Bournemouth for their Europa League campaign, having turned down the chance to sign a new contract so he can pursue a fresh challenge in north London.
Senesi was officially unveiled as a Spurs player on Wednesday, with the free transfer set to officially go through on July 1 after his Bournemouth contract expires.
New Spurs signing receives World Cup call-up
A day later, the defender's positive week got even better with a call-up to Argentina's World Cup squad.
Senesi has been named as the replacement for Marseille's Leonardo Balerdi, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury.
The news means Senesi will head to an international major tournament for the first time in his career, having only previously made three appearances for his country.
The most recent of those three outings came in March's 2-1 friendly win over Mauritania.
Is Senesi likely to appear in the World Cup?
While Senesi will be delighted with the news of his late inclusion, he now faces a battle to prove to Scaloni that he deserves to feature in Argentina's World Cup defence.
That seems like a tough task due to the fact that Scaloni can call upon Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Nicolas Otamendi and Facundo Medina as his other centre-back options.
Romero is expected to start the tournament with one of Martinez or Otamendi as his centre-back partner.
As a result, Senesi will likely only get on the pitch if there is an injury or Scaloni has the opportunity to rest and rotate.
Romero and Martinez's recent injury record and Otamendi's age mean that a potential opening in the lineup cannot be ruled out.
Argentina will begin their World Cup defence against Algeria on Tuesday before they face Austria and Jordan.