After the afternoon deluge over Alabama, the argentine national team beat 3-0 on Tuesday night against Iceland in a rain-free Jordan-Hare Stadium, in its last friendly before the 2026 World Cup which will take place in the United States, Mexico and Canada starting this Thursday. The national team started the game with a majority of substitutes and, after the break, coach Lionel Scaloni began to make the first modifications. Later, he continued giving minutes to regular starters, including Lionel Messi.
Valentine Boat He opened the scoring shortly before 10 minutes when he took one of the rival defense’s clearances with his left foot at the door of the area, in a play that was born from a free kick that Giovani Lo Celso sent to the area and there were several rebounds.
Imperfect headers, attempts from the ground to connect by Giuliano Simeone and failed rejections until the former Boca player, who was waiting near the crescent, He connected first to define next to a stickbefore the stretch of goalkeeper Elias Ólafsson, who saw the ball arrive between the legs of those who were in front. El Colo was replaced after the first half, like against Honduras.
Minutes before, Iceland had had a very clear chance to take the lead, but Mikael Ellertsson missed the goal. In a cross from left to right, the forward came behind the Argentine defense to finish, but his shot behind Facundo Medina went over the crossbar. Although the Icelandic seemed to be ahead, the American referee Rosendo Mendoza decided that Argentina should serve from the goal.
One minute from the end of that stage, Isak Jóhannesson demanded Gerónimo Rulli with a strong mid-range shot. The Argentine goalkeeper, starting in the absence of Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez due to a finger injury on one hand, responded by controlling the ball without rebounding, in the face of the arrival of other opponents willing to take advantage of the situation if it rebounded.
In the second half, both had the chance to score early. In Argentina, Lautaro Martínez failed to connect with a somewhat strong pass from Nico Paz, when the goalkeeper was halfway there. Immediately, an Icelandic shot went just wide.
The Argentine response was a very good combination between Simeone, Lautaro Martínez and Alexis Mac Allisterwho sought to finish with class next to a stick, against the goalkeeper’s leg, but the left pipe returned the shot.
Shortly after, El Toro also had his chance in front of the goal, this time with a cross definition, and tried to place it next to the same post, which again prevented the second Argentine goal in the middle of a match that got spicy, with a strong leg and numerous reprimands.
One minute after coming on from the bench, after the hydration break, Lionel Messi scored 2-0criminal. The goalkeeper committed the foul on Martínez, after a great clearance from Rosario, who did not fail from the twelve steps. Leo He received, hooked and in a couple of movements left the Inter Milan forward alone heading towards the goal..
What Lautaro could not do, due to the foul he received, was accomplished by Messi by executing the maximum penalty. Thus, he converted for the 117th time with the national shirt and is the oldest to score a goal in the history of our teamat 38 years, 11 months and 18 days, surpassing Ángel Labruna (38 years, 9 months and 10 days). And the public, who was already euphoric since warming up next to the playing field, celebrated as if they were already playing their sixth World Cup.
Four minutes from the end, Thiago Almada He scored 3-0 in a brilliant counterattack. The former Vélez player himself started it near his own area by clearing his headerMac Allister looked for De Paul in the same way, combined with Messi and when Rodrigo turned to make the back pass, the Atlético de Madrid forward appeared to push it towards the net. Great goal, almost from goal to goal.
The Albiceleste team, defending champions after winning Qatar 2022, will participate in group J, along with Algeria, Austria and Jordan, who will be their rivals in that order. Meanwhile, the European team did not qualify for this World Cup.
