Argentina and Brazil search for Messi and Neymar replacements ahead of World Cup qualifiers

SAO PAULO (AP) — There will be no Lionel Messi for Argentina and no Neymar for Brazil in two decisive rounds of South American World Cup qualifying.

Ahead of games against tough rivals, coaches Lionel Scaloni and Dorival Júnior are still wondering who will replace their stars.

Defending champion Argentina, the leader with 25 points after 12 matches, could secure its place in the 2026 World Cup within days. It plays at second-place Uruguay on Friday.

Argentina then hosts Brazil in Buenos Aires next Tuesday. The last time the two South American powerhouses clashed, Argentina won 1-0 at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

On Thursday, fifth-place Brazil hosts fourth-place Colombia. Also this week, Paraguay will host Chile, Peru will take on Bolivia, and Ecuador hosts Venezuela.

The top six teams will secure direct berths to the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The seventh-place team among the 10 of the region will still have a chance to qualify through an international playoff.

Brazil could end this month securing its spot in the next World Cup or lagging in seventh place. That means pressure on coach Júnior.

Neymar’s absence led Júnior to try out Savinho up front alongside Rodrygo and Vinicius Júnior, with Raphinha behind them in Tuesday's training session. Brazil's coach hinted that would be the most likely lineup against Colombia on Thursday at the Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia.

But then local media reported another formation was tested Wednesday, with João Pedro as a target man up front and Vinicius Júnior as his pairing. Raphinha and Rodrygo trained right behind them to close gaps in the midfield.

If neither of those settings work, coach Júnior will still be able to move Raphinha up front on the wing or try out teenager Estêvão, one of Brazil’s biggest prospects, in the same position. Then Rodrygo could play center forward, as in other occasions.

“I am trying to keep players in the position they play at the clubs since the start, and I make changes according what rivals bring,” Júnior said Wednesday during a press conference in which he did not reveal his starting lineup.

Several Brazil players will miss the match against Argentina if they are booked against Colombia: defenders Danilo and Gabriel Magalhães; midfielders André, Bruno Guimarães; and strikers Matheus Cunha, Raphinha and Rodrygo.

Brazil drew against Venezuela and Uruguay in its two latest World Cup qualifying matches, with coach Júnior arguing he was “starting a recovery process” by testing several players in different positions.

With Messi out due to a muscle injury, Scaloni hoped he could field a powerful duo up front in Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo. But on Wednesday he also lost Martínez — the Inter Milan striker — to a muscle fatigue problem.

A win would make Argentina the first South American team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

Álvarez has scored 23 goals for Atletico Madrid this season. But instead of an aggressive pairing with Martínez, he is more likely to have midfielder Thiago Almada in Messi's role and be all alone up front.

Messi injured his left thigh adductor muscle in Inter Miami's 2-1 victory over Atlanta United on Sunday in the MLS.

Argentine players might want to be cautious in Montevideo to avoid risking suspension for the match against Brazil. Defender Nicolás Otamendi and midfielders Leandro Paredes, Enzo Fernández, Rodrigo de Paul, and Alexis Mac Allister could miss the clash if they get a yellow against Uruguay.

Argentina will play a friendly on Saturday against a local U-20 team at Huracán Stadium in Buenos Aires in a fundraiser for the reconstruction of a hospital damaged by a storm that killed 16 people in the region of Bahía Blanca two weeks ago.

“We needed to do something within the international window," Scaloni said.

AP journalist Debora Rey contributed to this report from Buenos Aires.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Brazil's Vinicius Junior boots the ball in front of Joao Pedro during a national soccer team training session, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil's coach Dorival Junior controls the ball during a national soccer team training session, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Argentina's players warm up during a training session ahead of a World Cup 2026 soccer qualifier against Uruguay, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Argentina's coach Lionel Scaloni watches his players during a training session ahead of a World Cup 2026 soccer qualifier against Uruguay, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from Social Security systems that hold personal data on millions of Americans, calling their work there a “fishing expedition.”

The order also requires the team to delete any personally identifiable data in their possession.

U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander in Maryland found that the team got broad access to sensitive information at the Social Security Administration to search for fraud with little justification.

“The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion,” she wrote.

The order does allow DOGE staffers to access to data that's been redacted or stripped of anything personally identifiable, if they undergo training and background checks.

“To be sure, rooting out possible fraud, waste, and mismanagement in the SSA is in the public interest. But, that does not mean that the government can flout the law to do so,” Hollander wrote.

The Trump administration says DOGE is targeting waste in the federal government. Musk has been focused on Social Security as an alleged hotbed of fraud, describing it as a “ ponzi scheme ” and insisting that reducing waste in the program is an important way to cut government spending.

The ruling, which could be challenged on appeal, comes in a lawsuit filed by labor unions, retirees and the advocacy group Democracy Forward. They argued that DOGE access violates privacy laws and presents serious information security risks. The lawsuit included a declaration from a recently departed Social Security official who saw the DOGE team sweep into the agency said she is deeply worried about sensitive information being exposed.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DOGE detailed a 10-person team of federal employees at the SSA, seven of whom were granted read-only access to agency systems or personally identifiable information, according to court documents.

The staffers were all federal employees allowed to access the data under federal privacy laws, the government argued, and there's no evidence that any personal data was improperly shared.

The Justice Department also said that DOGE access doesn’t deviate significantly from normal practices inside the agency, where employees are routinely allowed to search its databases. But attorneys for the plaintiffs called the access unprecedented.

Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, called the ruling a “major win for working people and retirees across the country.”

Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, said that “the court recognized the real and immediate dangers of DOGE’s reckless actions and took action to stop it.”

DOGE has gotten at least some access to other government databases, including at the Treasury Department and IRS.

At SSA, DOGE staffers swept into the agency days after Trump’s inauguration and pressed for a software engineer to quickly get access to data systems that are normally carefully restricted even within the government, a former official said in court documents.

The team appeared to be searching for fraud based on inaccuracies and misunderstandings, according to Tiffany Flick, the former acting chief of staff to the acting commissioner.

Hollander, 75, who is based in Baltimore and was nominated by President Barack Obama, is the latest judge to consider a DOGE related case.

The team has drawn nearly two dozen lawsuits. Earlier this week another Maryland judge found that DOGE's dismantling of United States Agency for International Development was likely unconstitutional.

While other judges have raised questions about DOGE’s sweeping cost-cutting efforts, they have not always agreed any risks are imminent enough to block the team from government systems.

Associated Press writers Chris Megerian and Lea Skene in Baltimore contributed reporting.

Demonstrators gather outside of the Edward A. Garmatz United States District Courthouse in Baltimore, on Friday, March 14, 2025, before a hearing regarding the Department of Government Efficiency's access to Social Security data. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Demonstrators gather outside of the Edward A. Garmatz United States District Courthouse in Baltimore, on Friday, March 14, 2025, before a hearing regarding the Department of Government Efficiency's access to Social Security data. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)