5 days after a 1-0 victory over Ecuador in the opening match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America in which Lionel Messi scored the only goal, Argentina visited Bolivia.
According to statistics, La Paz is a place where Messi has not scored or assisted once (in 4 times playing here). However, when the Argentine superstar is 36 years old, coach Lionel Scaloni must make reasonable calculations to ensure his fitness. Messi was not on the list of registered players to play in the match in the early morning of September 13 (Vietnam time).
However, as the reigning world champions, that is not a big deal, especially when the level of host Bolivia is at a weak level.
Coach Scaloni listed Nicolas Gonzalez, Julian Alvarez and Angel di Maria as the three attackers in the 4-3-3 formation. The home team chose to defend tightly with a 5-3-2 formation.
But Bolivia's tightness only lasted 30 minutes. After taking the initiative from the start of the match, in the 31st minute, Di Maria made a favorable assist for Enzo Fernandez to finish close to the goal, putting La Albiceleste ahead.
Not only did Argentina gain the advantage in the score, they also had an extra player from the 39th minute, because Bolivia defender Roberto Fernandez received a red card after a serious foul on Cristian Romero.
Just 3 minutes later, Argentina concretized their advantage with a second goal. Di Maria continued to assist Nicolas Tagliafico to head the ball into the net.
After the break, Argentina slowed down their attack, while the home team did not have enough strength to take the lead. The half did not have many notable points, until the 83rd minute.
The bolvian defender lost the ball in front of the penalty area, Exequiel Palacios stole it and passed it to Nicolas Gonzalez to seal the score at 3-0.
Argentina temporarily took the lead with 6 points after 2 matches, because in other matches, Uruguay lost 1-2 at Ecuador, Paraguay lost 0-1 at Venezuela. If Brazil beat Peru in the late match, the No. 1 position will return to Selecao.
In October, Argentina will have the next 2 matches in the qualifying round - hosting Paraguay at home on October 13 and visiting Peru on October 18.
