Wales will move to the top of the world rankings for the first time in history if New Zealand lose by more than 15 points against Argentina on Saturday
It would see Steve Hansen's side relinquish the number one spot for the first time in nearly 10 years.
The All Blacks have never lost to the Pumas but Hansen has left a number of his stars behind for the sold-out Rugby Championship clash at Jose Amalfitani Stadium.
Captain Kieran Read and lock Sam Whitelock are among those missing while the Kiwis look a bit light at prop and have a debut-maker on the wing in Sevu Reece.
Argentina finished fourth at the 2015 World Cup and their rugby is on a high after the Jaguares reached the final of this year's Super Rugby tournament.
Although they went down to multiple champions Crusaders in the final in Christchurch they actually created more try-scoring chances only to fail to take them.
Pumas coach Mario Ledesma has picked French-based stars Nicolas Sanchez and Juan Figallo after the Argentine Rugby Union relented on its policy of not picking exiles for the Rugby Championship and the World Cup.
Argentina’s best result against back-to-back world champions New Zealand in 32 Tests is a solitary draw, achieved in 1985, but their physicality up-front has given the All Blacks problems in recent meetings.
Both countries are fine tuning ahead of this year's World Cup in Japan with Hansen using the trip to Latin America to experiment.
"We have to take some risks if we’re going to get to the World Cup with the right group of players," said the former Wales boss.
"You take the risks as long as you think the rewards are OK. In this case the rewards are. We get more information and we’re still putting very talented rugby players out there."
Wales climbed to second in World Rugby's official rankings after rocketing to a Six Nations Grand Slam with a convincing triumph over Ireland in Cardiff.
