Early morning of October 11, Messi, in his return to the Argentina team since Copa America, played quite well, but he and his teammates only had a 1-1 draw with Venezuela in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America.
Messi played the full 90 minutes, took 2 shots, successfully completed 2/3 dribbles, won 5/7 duels and created 1 good chance. SofaScore gave him 7.2 points. However, the 37-year-old was disappointed that the pitch soaked by heavy rain before the match affected the Argentine national team’s play. This is part of the reason why the Albiceleste came away with just 1 point.
Due to heavy rain before the match, the official time of the match was delayed by almost 30 minutes. For the Argentine national team with the return of Messi, coach Scaloni sent Julián Álvarez to play from the start with Thiago Almada, while striker Lautaro Martínez only entered the field in the second half, near the end of the match.
Despite the weather and unfavourable pitch conditions, Argentina quickly took advantage and opened the scoring 1-0 in the 13th minute after a free kick from Messi, which goalkeeper Rafael Romo had difficulty clearing. Thanks to this, midfielder Otamendi took advantage of the opportunity to score from close range.
After the defeat, the Venezuelan team, with great support from the local fans who filled the Estadio Monumental, exerted intense pressure. Among them, the forward Salomón Rondón is the spearhead who always causes problems for the Argentine team’s defense.
However, Messi and his teammates had themselves to blame, as they wasted many opportunities to increase the score in the second half to end the match. In particular, Messi and Julián Álvarez had opportunities to score, but both failed.
In the middle of the second half, the Venezuelan team tied the game 1-1 with a goal scored by Salomón Rondón in the 65th minute after a set situation.
The draw left Argentina still unable to regain victory after losing 1-2 to Colombia in the September match. However, the Albiceleste still maintained first place in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers with 19 points after 9 games. Colombia (lost 0-1 to Bolivia) ranked second with 16 points.
After the match, Messi said: “I’ve been away from the pitch for a long time. So I’m very happy to be back with the Argentina national team. Now we’ll be back on our pitch and playing in front of our fans.”
The waiting time to get back on the pitch was quite long, because I needed time to recover from my injury and I missed the team’s games. But I’m happy to be back. I really miss my time playing in Argentina. Now we have a long way to go, then a few days to rest and prepare for the home game.”
In the next match, Argentina will face Bolivia at 7:00 a.m. on October 16 at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
