This year's Copa America – postponed from 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic – had been due to be shared between Colombia and Argentina, though both countries were removed as co-hosts following respective political and coronavirus issues.
CONMEBOL confirmed the 2021 tournament will go ahead as planned, with Brazil taking over hosting duties in pursuit of back-to-back titles, despite being one of the country's worst hit by the COVID-19 health crisis.
As Argentina prepare to open the showpiece event in the scheduled curtain-raiser against Chile on June 13, Scaloni questioned the governing body's decision to strip Argentina of hosting rights.
"Some time ago people had been talking about the problems we have as a country to host the Copa America and the effort that the Government and the AFA were making to try to play it in Argentina," Scaloni told reporters ahead of Thursday's World Cup qualifier against Chile.
"Colombia had already gone down and in the end it was decided that it should not be done here for a health issue, but now it turns out that we will have to travel to Brazil and with that everything is said.
"Surely Brazil is the same or worse than us and from that place it was a difficult decision to assimilate, but this does not mean that we will have to go play and try to do our best.
"There are still many unknowns, accommodation, where we will train, our perspective changed a lot because before we were going to be on our camp, with all precautions, and now we are faced with this situation that is still alarming and worrying because it is not the ideal place."
Scaloni – who announced his starting XI for the qualifier against Chile, which is headlined by superstar captain Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez and Angel Di Maria – added: "The issue of the virus and the pandemic is not something new, we are already immersed in this and it really is very difficult to carry it forward with training and day to day, but all the national teams are in the same conditions.
"You have to live with this in the most responsible way. It has never happened that two qualifying games are played and then the Copa America, before we had preparation games, but now it is all atypical and we have to face it in the best way and in due time."
Lionel Scaloni's men beat France 4-2 on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw in the World Cup final in December as Lionel Messi won international football's premier tournament for the first time in his decorated career.
The Paris Saint-Germain star is set to add to his 172 appearances for Argentina after he was named in Scaloni's squad for the friendlies with Panama and Curacao later this month.
But a fellow forward looks likely to play for La Albiceleste for the first time, with Garnacho's excellent form since breaking into the United squad this season earning him a maiden call-up.
The 18-year-old has registered eight goal involvements in 27 appearances in all competitions for the Red Devils this term, becoming an important part of their squad as they enjoy a successful first season under Erik ten Hag.
Angel Di Maria is named in the 35-man squad after scoring Argentina's second in the World Cup final, while shoot-out hero Emiliano Martinez also features.
Martinez's Aston Villa team-mate Emiliano Buendia is included while Enzo Fernandez, who joined Chelsea from Benfica in the January window for a British-record £106.8million (€120.6m), retains his place.
Argentina squad: Franco Armani (River Plate), Geronimo Rulli (Ajax), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa); Juan Foyth (Villarreal), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), Nehuen Perez (Udinese), German Pezzella (Real Betis), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Marcos Acuna (Sevilla), Lautaro Blanco (Elche); Leandro Paredes (Juventus), Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea), Maximo Perrone (Manchester City), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid), Facundo Buonanotte (Brighton and Hove Albion), Thiago Almada (Atlanta United), Giovani Lo Celso (Villarreal), Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton and Hove Albion), Valentin Carboni (Inter); Angel Di Maria (Juventus), Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid), Emiliano Buendia (Aston Villa), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain), Paulo Dybala (Roma), Lautaro Martinez (Inter), Julian Alvarez (Manchester City), Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United), Nicolas Gonzalez (Fiorentina), Alejandro Gomez (Sevilla).
Paris Saint-Germain forward Messi was crowned the Best FIFA Men's Player, Scaloni took the the Best FIFA Men's Coach and Martinez the Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper.
The award period spans between the start of the 2021-22 season through to the end of the 2022 World Cup, which saw Argentina end their 36-year wait to win the competition.
Martinez, who plies his club trade for Aston Villa, finished ahead of Thibaut Courtois and Yassine Bounou of Real Madrid and Sevilla respectively in the voting – although Courtois made the cut for the FIFPro Men's World 11.
Scaloni was next to pick up an award after seeing off competition from Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti, who won a LaLiga and Champions League double last season.
La Albiceleste have lost just one of their 23 games since the start of last season, with their solitary loss coming in their opening Qatar 2022 group game against Saudi Arabia.
Messi made it three from three for Argentina by claiming the top prize at the ceremony in the French capital, which started with a poignant tribute to Brazil great Pele.
Madrid striker Karim Benzema and Messi's PSG team-mate Kylian Mbappe had also been in the running for the award.
Argentina's fans also claimed the FIFA Fan Award.
Their domination on the men's side was not quite matched by European champions England in the women's prizes.
While Argentina dominated the men's side of the voting, it was a clean sweep for England in the women's side of things.
Mary Earps was named the Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper and Sarina Wiegman took the Best FIFA Women's Coach award for a third time.
But Beth Mead was pipped to the Best FIFA Women's Player accolade by Alexia Putellas, last year's winner.
Other winners included Luka Lochoshvili, then of Austrian side Wolfsberger, in the FIFA Fair Play Award category for potentially saving the life of opponent Georg Teigl during a game after the Austria Vienna player fell unconscious mid-match.
Polish amputee footballer Marcin Oleksy won the FIFA Puskas Award for the best goal for his perfectly executed bicycle kick for Warta Poznan against Stal Rzeszow.
Messi had missed the past two games at club level for Paris Saint-Germain with knee and hamstring issues but was used as a 76th-minute substitute against Uruguay.
Scaloni had said in the lead-up to the game that Messi was "good" and "wants to play" but explained afterwards he used him for limited minutes with a view to getting him ready to face Brazil, who are top of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings.
"His entry in the second half serves to get the rhythm ahead of the game with Brazil," Scaloni said during the news conference, when asked about Messi's cameo.
"We decided not to play him in the starting line-up because he's coming off some inactivity and the game was going to be like the one that happened."
The win was Argentina's first in Uruguay in 12 years, extending their unbeaten run to 26 games and was a "giant step" towards World Cup qualification according to Scaloni.
Scaloni said Argentina had won "without playing well" against Uruguay, who he claimed forced the game to be played on their terms.
"There are times when you can't play well because your opponent plays and proposes a type of game, and you have to adapt," he said.
"We adapted to the match that took place. That is a good sign as a team."
Argentina are second in qualifying on 28 points from 12 games, behind Brazil on 34 points from the same number of games. La Albiceleste hold a 12-point buffer on fifth-placed Colombia in the play-offs spot in fifth.
Messi was the architect as La Albiceleste progressed to the Copa semi-finals where they will take on Colombia on Tuesday in Brasilia.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner set up Rodrigo De Paul for Argentina's 40th-minute opener, before assisting Lautaro Martinez's 85th minute sealer.
Messi grabbed a goal of his own in stoppage-time with a trademark free-kick which took him to 76 international goals in his 149th appearance for La Albiceleste.
"Leo's game, I honestly don't know if he's going to get tired of being praised every day," Scaloni said at the post-game media conference. "The best thing that can happen for us football lovers is that the stars play until any age they can and we enjoy it.
"Messi is enjoyed even by opponents when they play against him. We are talking about the best player of all time.
"It is difficult for a player to be at his level. Neymar may at some point be a similar player but because of what he has done, is doing and will continue to do, we must remember him for who he is."
The win extended Argentina's unbeaten run under Scaloni to 18 games and gives them a shot at ending their 28-year wait for a Copa America title.
La Albiceleste had recorded three wins and a draw in the group stage, including two unconvincing 1-0 victories, and Scaloni was content with a more emphatic result.
"Whoever believes that you can win every game 3-0 easily is wrong especially in this Copa America, which has conditions that are very different," he said.
"I don't know if it's the best moment for the team. It is an instance that we like, it is decisive and we will try to move forward with the utmost humility and work."
Scaloni was wary of semi-final opponents Colombia who won 4-2 on penalties against Uruguay after a goalless draw to secure their spot in the last four.
"I want to emphasize that in this Copa America any of these teams could push any team in the world," he said.
"The level is quite high, it is not like before where the matches were taken for granted that you would win.
"We have already faced Colombia in the [World Cup] qualifiers. Now they will recover [Juan] Cuadrado, it will be difficult and like all matches.
"We hope to play it with the same intensity and enthusiasm, we have an enormous desire to play in the final."
Martinez has been tipped to swap Serie A side Inter for LaLiga champions Barca in the off-season following his exploits in Italy.
The Argentina international forward scored 16 goals in 31 matches across all competitions before the 2019-20 season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As speculation grows over Martinez's future, Argentina head coach Scaloni discussed the 22-year-old.
"If he plays with Messi he is better, no doubt. Beyond that later he will have to fight for the position as he did in Inter," Scaloni told TyC Sports.
"We have to be calm. If he changes clubs, maybe he does not have to be the undisputed starter, and it will not affect us, as long as he has a number of minutes that allows him to be in force.
"He has a huge future but still has a lot to give."
With Martinez dominating headlines, Scaloni issued a reminder about Sergio Aguero's exploits for Argentina and Manchester City.
Aguero is City's all-time top scorer as he celebrated his 32nd birthday on Tuesday, while he is third on Argentina's overall goals list with 41.
"Talking so much about Lautaro, it is Sergio who is breaking all the records," added Scaloni. "That is why you have to go calmly and wait for the moment of each one."
