Up-and-coming Argentines to keep an eye on in 2026

Trying to assess who’s going to make front-page news at any given time is a low-percentage exercise. The interplay of multiple variables means that random events like an unexpected sporting loss, the emergence of a dark horse candidate, or a movie flopping at the wrong time can derail even the most apparently bulletproof success stories. That being said, we are willing to risk it and point to a few Argentine figures we think can go from niche notoriety to household names this year.  From race car driver Nicolás Varrone and footballer Nicolás Paz to evangelical pastor Dante Gebel and actress Camila Plaate, here are our 2026 picks for potential stars in the making (plus a bonus track with a few names that need no introduction and are set to have big moments).  Nicolás Varrone With Franco Colapinto confirmed as one of the main Alpine drivers for 2026, Argentines are now dreaming of having a second countryman in Formula One.  Nicolás Varrone, a 25-year-old racing driver and childhood friend of Colapinto’s, is set to compete in Formula 2, the feeder series to F1. He is an official General Motors race driver, having won the FIA World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Chevrolet Corvette.  With Cadillac having its inaugural season as an F1 team in 2026, a big Varrone performance could land him in the top category, potentially placing two Argentines in the series for the first time since 1981. Rafael Grossi  Grossi, currently the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is in the running to become the new UN secretary-general. The Argentine government formally endorsed him last November to replace Antonio Guterres, whose term ends on December 31.  If he were to come out on top, he would become the most relevant Argentine on the international scene, filling the spot Pope Francis had until his death in April 2025.  Although Grossi is currently the only candidate to officially apply, he will likely face stiff opposition.  Other potential candidates from the region are former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet (the first Executive Director of UN Women, serving from 2010 to 2013), Costa Rican politician and economist Rebeca Grynspan, head of UN Trade and Development, and former Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca. Grossi, a career diplomat who previously served as Argentina’s ambassador to Austria, became the first Latin American head of the IAEA in December 2019. He played a key role mediating in some of the biggest international conflicts of the past years, including the war in Ukraine and the tensions between the United States, Israel, and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program. Dante Gebel A charismatic evangelic pastor, Dante Gebel toured Argentina and several other countries in 2025 with a sort of stand-up show “Presidante,” in which he talks about religious, political, and social topics.  Gebel, who rose to prominence in Argentina in the late 1990s, currently lives in Los Angeles. He gives evangelical conferences at his own megachurch called River Arena and is also a TV and radio host.  A political outsider just like President Milei, his figure has been gaining political traction over the past few months.  Social, union, and political leaders — including some former supporters of the president — recently launched a new group to back Gebel. They called for a political project focused on social justice, national industry, and just salaries.  Gebel has said he is still considering whether he wants to pursue a presidential campaign for the 2027 elections. Camila Plaate  Camila Plaate delivered one of the most harrowing performances in Argentine cinema this year in the opening scene of Dolores Fonzi’s film Belén. The movie is on the Academy Awards Best International Feature category shortlist. The Tucumán-born actress played the real-life Belén, a young woman who was sentenced to prison in 2014 for first-degree murder after suffering from a miscarriage she wasn’t even aware she was having.  Her case sparked a feminist tidal wave that would eventually lead to the passing of a bill to legalize abortion in late 2020. Plaate, whose prior work includes Cannes-premiered The Snatch Thief (2018) and Netflix’s series Love After Music (2023), won the Silver Shell for best supporting actress at the 2025 San Sebastian Film Festival, where Belén had its international premiere.  A potential Oscar nomination — which will be announced on January 22 — for the Amazon-produced film would certainly brighten the spotlight on the 29-year-old actress, drama teacher, and musician. Nicolás Paz  Argentina’s men’s national football team will tackle the 2026 FIFA World Cup with high expectations, looking to become the first to win back-to-back tournaments since Brazil did it in 1958 and 1962.  The squad that won at Qatar 2022, however, will need young new talent to step up if it wants to make it all the way to the end, just like Enzo Fernández and Alexis MacAllister became key members during the last World Cup. One of the more promising candidates for that role is Spanish-born midfielder Nicolás Paz. After coming up through the Real Madrid youth side, he is currently a key cog for Como in the Italian Serie A, a team that has surprisingly reached the top of the table this season.  Competition on the Albiceleste is tough, and Paz has not yet earned a definite spot. But if things break his way, he has the potential to become an X factor for the Scaloneta on its quest for glory. Gabriela Cabezón Cámara Already a multi-award-winning writer and well-regarded intellectual, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara has made international headlines over the past year. Her novel We Are Green and Trembling, translated by poet Robin Myers, won the National Book Award for translated literature in November.  She has sparked debate within Argentina, too: The Adventures of China Iron — a feminist reinterpretation of the epic poem Martin Fierro — was one of the books that ruling party La Libertad Avanza denounced as containing pornographic content after high schools began to teach it, sparking a debate about censorship, book-banning, and how to teach texts with sexual content to young people. A feminist and environmental activist, Cabezón Cámara was among a long list of authors and public figures to put their names to a public letter opposing a bill to modify Argentina’s glacier law to expand mining activity.  We Are Green and Trembling, based on the true story of a nun who lived as a male military officer in South America before escaping with two Indigenous girls, is also up for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award.  Argentine figures set to have a (big) moment in the sun Leo Messi Safe to say that there’s never been a year in which Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi has not been under the spotlight since his breakthrough debut at 17 in 2004. More than two decades later, he remains a pivotal figure in Argentine football, albeit for different reasons. Although Messi hinted very heavily that Qatar 2022 would likely be his last FIFA World Cup, he remains very much a key figure for Argentine football.  As the kickoff date for the 2026 World Cup draws near, the question remains: Will he play?  And although there are currently no indications that he won’t be there, it only takes a badly timed tackle or ill-fated run to ruin what could be a dream send-off and a historic second world title. Lali  One of Argentina’s most beloved pop artists, Lali will perform for the first time at River Plate Stadium in June, a milestone for any local musical artist. She will become only the second solo Argentine singer to achieve this feat after María Becerra did it last year. The presentation is set to be the cherry on the cake of Lali’s 2025 tour. She completed 21 shows last year, including five sold-out shows in the Buenos Aires Vélez stadium and three performances in Spain. Lali will do two shows in Argentina’s largest stadium to showcase all of her hits, including Fanático, a thinly veiled anthem about her feud with President Javier Milei.  Lucrecia Martel Martel is arguably Argentina’s most renowned international filmmaker. Her debut film, La Ciénaga (The swamp, 2001), showcased her as one of the more original and potent directors of the Nuevo Cine Argentino (New Argentine Cinema) movement that emerged in the late 1990s, propelling her to become a fixture in festivals like Cannes and Berlin.  In 2026, Martel will premiere her first documentary, Nuestra tierra (Landmarks), centering on the assassination of indigenous rights activist Javier Chocobar, a case that shocked the country in 2009. The film director’s first movie in several years comes at a singular time. Her decision to make a departure from her trademark oneiric atmospheres to tackle a real-life event will likely lead her to butt heads with President Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza, as its followers routinely rage against political activists and progressive causes like indigenous rights.  While Martel has always been a very politically outspoken artist, the movie’s appearance in Argentina’s current cultural zeitgeist has the potential to amplify her voice and opinions beyond the country’s borders. Cover photo: Dante Gebel, Camila Plaate, and Nicolás Varrone (credits: Dante Gebel X account, Iñaki Luis/SSIFF, and Nicolás Varrone IG account).