Alexis Mac Allister caught up in Hurricane Milton travel chaos ahead of World Cup qualifier

Alexis Mac Allister and the rest of the Argentina squad finally touched down in Maturin, Venezuela late on Wednesday night, ahead of Thursday's World Cup qualification match,

The world champions had initially set up camp in Miami, Florida at the start of the week, but Hurricane Milton's looming threat prevented them from making the journey to Venezuela as early as they had originally planned.

At one stage, there was even talk of pushing the match to Friday if Argentina couldn't make the trip due to the severe and hazardous weather conditions. To compound matters, the Venezuelan government has also shut its airspace to all Argentinian-registered aircrafts, forcing Scaloni's squad to reroute via Colombia.

Nevertheless, Liverpool's and the rest of the squad managed to depart Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday afternoon. They touched down in Barranquilla, Colombia around 8pm local time before continuing their journey to Maturin.

Prior to this, while addressing concerns on Tuesday, Argentina coach Scaloni conveyed his worries over Hurricane Milton; the fierce storm escalated to a Category 5, stirring winds reaching 265km per hour. He noted: "We worked calmly, because the place is perfect, but this issue is always on the agenda, especially when it comes to people's safety. It's a delicate matter."

The anticipated match on Thursday night looks set to take place as Scaloni grapples with an additional challenge: an injury crisis that has left his squad short-handed.

Liverpool's midfielder Mac Allister will sit out due to a groin problem, and he's not the only one missing the game Aston Villa's number one Emiliano Martinez and Tottenham's Cristian Romero are out on suspensions.

Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho, a winger, has been compelled to step back from international duty due to knee pain. Paulo Dybala, Nicolas Gonzalez of Juventus, and Marcos Acuna had already been excluded from the squad owing to various fitness concerns.

Despite these setbacks, Argentina currently leads the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers table, having secured victories in six out of their eight matches, with only two losses so far. Colombia trails closely behind with 16 points, while Brazil is struggling to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, having lost more qualifiers (four) than they have won (three).

Argentina will host Bolivia, who are currently in eighth place, on Tuesday night at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires before their players return to their respective clubs.