Argentina and Ecuador will face off in their opening games of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The top four teams from this CONMEBOL tournament will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and possibly even a fifth.

All 10 CONMEBOL teams will play against one another in this round robin soccer tournament. On Thursday night Argentina and Ecuador will square off.

Argentina (1)

Argentina is the No. 1 ranked national team in the world. Although they lost in the finals in each of their of their last two competitions, this team is always ready to play. Argentina lost to Germany in last year's FIFA World Cup, and against Chile in the final game of the 2015 Copa America.

Unfortunately for Argentina, Lionel Messi will not be playing. The Barcelona superstar is still resting a leg injury, and he will not play against Paraguay next week either.

Without Messi on the field, Javier Mascherano has now been named team captain by coach Gerardo Martino. Martino also plays for Barcelona. As expected, Sergio Romero will get the start in net over Mariano Andújar. Argentina rivals only Chile as the most balanced team in this tournament. This is Carlos Tevez's time to shine. Tevez is one of the most underrated players out of South America, and he has big shoes to fill without Messi. Sergio Agüero will also be starting on offense.

The loss to Chile in the Copa America finals is the only defeat for Argentina this calendar year. Argentina has eight wins, one draw and one loss this year. Argentina defeated Ecuador in March by a score of 2-1.

Ecuador (31)

Ecuador knows they're the underdogs in this game, but they will just have to fight and overcome the odds. Ecuador has won their last two games, against Honduras and Mexico. Ecuador can't match Argentina player for player, but they can't be overlooked. If Ecuador can just draw and get a point against the No. 1 team, it would be a huge moral victory.

Alexander Domínguez will be starting in net while team captain Walter Ayoví leads the defensive unit. More than half of Ecuador's starting lineup is made up of players who currently play in Ecuadorian leagues whereas Argentina has just four players who are based in Argentinian leagues. This Ecuador squad is a tight group with great chemistry.

Ecuador's biggest weakness is easily their offense. Outside of Felipe Caicedo, they don't have a huge superstar player who can score at will or strike effectively from 20 yards out. If Ecuador is going to win this game, it's going to be very low scoring. Ecuador hasn't scored more than two goals in their last four consecutive games.

Schedule

Argentina and Ecuador will play each other on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. EDT at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires, Argentina. You can watch a live game stream here.

Prediction

Argentina won't have Messi, but they're still the superior squad from top to bottom. This is a huge game for Argentina to start up their 2018 FIFA World Cup run, and they should begin it with a victory. Having home field advantage will only help.

Argentina wins 2-0

 Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1