The Monumental decorated in light blue and white vibrates. Delirious with a recital of the genius, of the footballer that everyone wants to see there, live and direct. Argentina shines to the rhythm of its captain. Lionel Messiin phenomenon mode. This is a pleasing display. Argentina, which had just lost to Colombia and tied against Venezuela, comes across this Bolivia surprising, which comes from chaining three consecutive victories. And he doesn’t care. He destroys it with that authority that usually distinguishes him, but especially with Messi, who at the same time establishes a brutal connection with Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez, with that two center forwards that Lionel Scaloni decides to put together from the beginning. Then, an explosive trident comes out. Yes, all three can coexist. And in a while they liquidate the story.
Argentina – Bolivia: the most spectacular images of the match
Leo returned to play in Buenos Aires after that injury that sidelined him from the last doubleheader of the South American Qualifiers. And flew. First, he took advantage of the pressure and the removal of Lautaro Martínez in an imperfect start by Marcelo Suárez. On the 10th he faced the goalkeeper, who was waiting for the left foot shot to the far post, but the shot went to the first post. Inside.
Afterwards, the former Barça player launched a sensational free kick that led to an even better save from Guillermo Viscarra. The Bolivian goalkeeper will never forget her, because he reached out with his left hand to grab her just as she was going into a corner, because in the fall she also hit her face against the post.
Lautaro Martínez participated in the rout of Bolivia
With its best eleven (except for the absence of the suspended Emiliano Martínez, replaced again by Gerónimo Rulli), Argentina handled the ball, controlled everything. It didn’t have much depth, but it had Messi. And with Lautaro. And with Julian. And before the break there were two more goals, both with assists from Leo.
First, although he could have scored because he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, the number 10 preferred to serve the Inter goal scorer 2-0, after receiving a great pass from the Atlético de Madrid attacker. It was Lautaro’s 30th goal with the albiceleste in 68 games. He reached 7th place in that ranking none other than Angel Di María.
After a while, the captain put Álvarez at 3-0. He did it with a free kick executed quickly, with unique precision, ideal for Julián to hit the diagonal from the left towards the middle, control it like a crack towards his best profile and resolve from the right. It was the 11th goal in the Colchonero striker’s national team.
What happened in the second half was what was imagined: even regulating and making several changes, Argentina increased the victory. Leandro Paredes, Exequiel Palacios, Thiago Almada entered (he celebrated the fourth after a great collective construction) and Nicolás Paz debuted (the 20-year-old Spanish-Argentine who plays as an offensive midfielder for the Italian Como).
What Lionel Scaloni could not change was Messi. The thing is that Leo continued playing as if everything was zero to zero. I wanted the genius more. And at the closing, it caused two more explosions. He scored the fifth, opening up until he found the right, low right shot. And he celebrated the sixth, facing the other way, touching with Nico Paz and looking for the best angle for the left shot, also into a corner. Hat-trick, but he was close to making another three. 112 goals with Argentina! Second top scorer for national teams! Brutal!
TECHNICAL SHEET
6 – Argentina: Gerónimo Rulli; Nahuel Molina Lucero, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi (m.72, Lisandro Martínez) and Nicolás Tagliafico; Rodrigo De Paul (m.64, Exequiel Palacios), Enzo Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister (m.64, Leandro Paredes); Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez (m.72, Nicolás Paz) and Julián Álvarez (m.64, Thiago Almada).
0 – Bolivia: Guillermo Viscarra; Diego Medina, Luis Haquín, Marcelo Suárez, José Sagredo and Roberto Fernández (m.66, Luis Fernando Paz); Gabriel Villamil, Robson Matheus (m.78, Adalid Terrazas) and Ramiro Vaca; Miguel Terceros (m.66, Lucas Chávez) and Carmelo Algarañaz (m.78, Enzo Monteiro).
Goals: 1-0, Lionel Messi (m. 19); 2-0, Lautaro Martínez (m. 43); 3-0, Julián Álvarez (m. 45+3); 4-0, Thiago Almada (m. 69); 5-0, Lionel Messi (m. 84); 6-0, Lionel Messi (m. 86)
Referee: Peruvian Kevin Ortega cautioned Carmelo Algañaraz.
Incidents: Match valid for the tenth day of the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, played at the Antonio Vespucio Liberti ‘Monumental’ Stadium, in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Núñez.
Messi and Argentina paraded at the Monumental. At a firm pace, leaders in solitude, walk towards the World Cup.
