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Alumni News — New York City FC

Taty Castellanos gets his Argentina call-up (finally)

The former Golden Boot winner with New York City FC will be with the Argentina national team for two FIFA World Cup qualifiers in September.

,   and  Andrew Leigh
4 min read
Taty scored in the SS Lazio season opener last week | Courtesy SS Lazio

Taty Castellanos has hit a new personal milestone: The former New York City FC striker was called up by the Argentina national team for two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Castellanos, who NYCFC sold to S.S. Lazio last summer, is part of the 28-player squad called in by the current World Cup and Copa América holders to face Chile on September 5 at Estadio Mâs Monumental in Buenos Aires, then Colombia away in Barranquilla on September 10.

This will be Taty's first call-up to Argentina's senior team. He played eight times for the Argentina U-23s, with all those appearances coming between 2019 and 2020 after he was first called up in October 2019. Now almost five years later, Castellanos will join Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan and Julián Álvarez of Atletico Madrid as striker options for Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni.

Taty finally will be with the Argentina squad after being rumored to be on the radar of his national team back in November 2023. That's when Argentine journalist Gastón Edul reported that Castellanos was on the "reserve list" and being monitored by Scaloni.

There was also further talk of Taty receiving a call-up for La Albiceleste's matches in March, but again, a spot on the roster did not arrive for the striker originally from Mendoza, Argentina.

In form with Lazio

The national team call comes while Taty is off to a fast start to his second season in Serie A with Lazio.

The 25-year-old was Lazio's Player of the Match in the 3-1 win over Venezia FC to open the Serie A season. It was a vintage Taty performance, with the striker pressing and capitalizing on a defensive error by Venezia to score an 11th-minute equalizer, then drawing the penalty that was converted by teammate Mattia Zaccagni to make it 2-1 Lazio in the 44th minute.

It's a promising start as Castellanos looks to improve on his first season with the Roman club, which saw him collect six goals and five assists in 46 appearances across all competitions.

Taty only started in 20 of those 46 appearances last season, but that might be set to change now that Lazio's long-tenured striker and usual starter, Ciro Immobile, has left to join Besiktas.

Castellanos is also now working under his third Lazio manager, with former Hellas Verona coach Marco Baroni taking over in July. Scoring and earning a PK in your first league start under the new manager, after also providing an all-timer of a preseason goal to catch his attention, all would seem to bode well for Taty as he looks to hold on to his role as a starter.

Another line added to NYCFC's success story

For his former club New York City FC, Taty's Argentina call-up is another line added to the impressive resumé of the player who continues to personify the best-case scenario for young prospects who join NYCFC.

He's not getting called up while still playing here in MLS, but Castellanos remains a product of the league and the New York City FC program, and someone likely used as an example when the team is recruiting players.

Taty's path through the City Football Group network at teams in South America, North America, and Europe would seem likely to be part of the pitch to players like Jovan Mijatović, Agustín Ojeda, and Julián Fernández as they consider moves to MLS.

This call-up is great for NYCFC and its reputation as a development ground for promising young players who want to, someday, break into their national teams just like Castellanos. The call-up is also a reminder that New York City has yet to really, fully replace what they lost when Castellanos left for Girona FC, and when the team cashed in and sold him outright to Lazio.

Risk and Reward: How Taty Castellanos ended up signing with Lazio for €20 million
We retrace the long, winding road that led NYCFC to sell Taty to Lazio after two years of rumors and almost-transfers.
Hudson River BlueAndrew Leigh

A Golden Boot winner who scored 53 goals and added 19 assists across 116 appearances in the MLS regular season and MLS Cup Playoffs leaves big shoes to fill, but it's also been two years and those shoes still mostly remain unfilled.

Talles Magno was supposed to be the next star attacker to emerge, but he never hit the high level expected of him in the time he spent in New York City without Taty as a teammate, and has now left the club for a loan stint with Corinthians in Brazil.

The team's current arrangement has led to another 25-year-old from within the CFG network of clubs, Alonso Martínez from Costa Rica by way of SK Lommel, emerging as the team's most consistent and effective striker in 2024.

Taty Castellanos's Argentina breakthrough is a great reward for a player who has worked hard to stand out at each stop he's made in his globe-hopping career, and a reminder of "what might be" as his former team in New York City continues to try to recreate the magic that was present during his parts of five seasons playing in MLS.

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