Buenos Aires staged a one-sided international night at the Monumental, where Argentina overwhelmed a severely disrupted Burkina Faso 7-0 in a FIFA-window friendly and moved closer to Lionel Messi’s scheduled farewell appearance for the national team.
The visitors arrived in the Argentine capital only five and a half hours before kick-off after an almost 12-hour trip from Casablanca. With senior players and the first-team coach declining to make the journey under those conditions, Burkina Faso fielded an Under-23-based group led by Moussa Sanogo. The fixture had been close to cancellation, and Benin — Argentina’s opponents on Tuesday — was considered as a possible replacement during the previous 24 hours.
Against that backdrop, the contest offered little meaningful resistance. Argentina were three ahead inside 12 minutes and eventually gave every member of Lionel Scaloni’s squad playing time in a match that resembled a controlled training exercise more than a competitive friendly.
Fast start at the Monumental
Scaloni retained almost the same side that had beaten Bolivia heavily, another indication of the shape he is considering for Argentina’s post-Messi side. Nicolás Paz and Gianluca Prestianni again started behind a twin-striker pairing of Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez.
Lautaro opened the scoring in the third minute. The Inter forward’s 42nd Argentina goal, achieved in his 86th international, drew him level with Sergio Agüero as the country’s third-highest scorer of all time.
A Moumouni Diallo own goal made it 2-0 in the eighth minute, before Prestianni struck four minutes later. Paz added the fourth on 35 minutes and Álvarez scored a minute afterwards, meaning all four of Scaloni’s attacking starters had contributed before the interval.
The Argentina coach replaced his entire starting XI over the course of the evening. Franco Mastantuono scored in the 57th minute, while Giuliano Simeone completed the result in the first minute of stoppage time. The match also allowed Argentina to run down suspension dates connected to World Cup red cards.
Attention turns to Messi’s farewell
Argentina will remain in Buenos Aires to face Benin on Tuesday, when Messi is expected to make his final appearance for the national side. The occasion is set to carry a far greater emotional weight than Burkina Faso’s difficult visit, with the Monumental preparing for a landmark night in the career of the World Cup-winning captain.
Match details
| Team | Line-up and substitutes |
|---|---|
| Argentina | Emiliano Martínez (79, Gerónimo Rulli); Agustín Giay (64, Giuliano Simeone), Cristian Romero (46, Leonardo Balerdi), Lisandro Martínez (46, Tomás Palacios), Facundo Medina (64, Nicolás González); Enzo Fernández (69, Valentín Barco), Alexis Mac Allister (69, Exequiel Palacios), Gianluca Prestianni (46, Leonel Flores), Nicolás Paz (46, Matías Soulé); Julián Álvarez (46, Franco Mastantuono), Lautaro Martínez (69, Santiago Castro). Coach: Lionel Scaloni. |
| Burkina Faso | Guira Razak; Donatien Bama, Moumouni Diallo (58, Mikael Coulibaly), Cyrille Dao (46, Fadil Barro), Bassirou Yameogo; Franck Kante (46, Nouhoum Koné), Bebel Doumbia (85, Salif Tietietta), Hassamandou Ouedraogo (58, Allan Moussa Ky), Nasser Ouattara (76, Razak Sanou); Dylan Kam (46, Nouhoum Koné), Jack Diarra (58, Ousmane Camara). Coach: Moussa Sanogo. |
Goals
- 3 minutes: Lautaro Martínez, 1-0.
- 8 minutes: Moumouni Diallo own goal, 2-0.
- 12 minutes: Gianluca Prestianni, 3-0.
- 35 minutes: Nicolás Paz, 4-0.
- 36 minutes: Julián Álvarez, 5-0.
- 57 minutes: Franco Mastantuono, 6-0.
- 90+1 minutes: Giuliano Simeone, 7-0.
Chile’s José Cabrero refereed the friendly and booked Burkina Faso defender Moumouni Diallo. The match was played at Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires.
