Lisandro Martinez oversaw a stalwart shift at the back as Argentina clinched a 3-0 victory in their World Cup opener overnight.
The reigning champions kick-started their campaign with a strong message thanks to a hat-trick from the world’s best, Lionel Messi.
How Lisandro Martinez fared vs Algeria
Manchester United’s No.6 started alongside Cristian Romero and played the full 90 minutes of the clash in Kansas City.
Throughout the contest, Martinez had 75 touches and completed 64 passes. He made four clearances, three recoveries and two tackles, while winning 100 per cent of his duels. Remarkably, he was not dribbled past once.
🚨📊 | Licha Martínez vs Algeria:
90 minutes
75 touches
64/67 completed passes
4 clearances
3 recoveries
2 tackles
100% duels won
0 dribbled past
Fantastic World Cup start 🤩🇦🇷 @Argentina pic.twitter.com/KI0gkhMOOD
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) June 17, 2026
Michael Carrick will, of course, be thrilled to see the defender performing to such a level on the world’s biggest stage.
United will be crossing their fingers in hopes Martinez stays fit
However, he will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on and sweating over whether Martinez will retain his fitness for the duration of the tournament and return to pre-season in tip-top shape.
The 28-year-old has been one of United’s most injury-prone players in recent years, to the point he has never finished a full season without at least one major layoff.
As a result, he has been limited to only 65 Premier League starts across his four seasons at Old Trafford, having also missed 65 league outings due to injury.
He’s accumulated just 5,750 minutes of action, making it no surprise that fans are apprehensive whenever he takes to the field on international duty.
Elsewhere in the World Cup, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot are poised to be in action for the first time when Portugal take on DR Congo this evening.
Then, Kobbie Mainoo may feature at what will be his second major tournament in England’s opener against Croatia at 9pm.
Amad Diallo is already off the mark after he netted a 90th-minute winner for the Ivory Coast against Ecuador on Monday.
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Isabel, 25, is a football writer who has previously gained experience in the industry as the editor of Stretty News, along with work on Caught Offside, Last Word on Football and Give Me Sport. She is now the editor of UtdReport.
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