Franco Mastantuono will return to Fiorentina with a first Argentina goal behind him and a demanding Serie A assignment immediately ahead. The 19-year-old scored in the 7-0 win over Burkina Faso Under-23 at the Monumental, the River Plate stadium where his senior career first gathered pace.
It was a familiar setting for the player from Azul. He made his River debut there around two and a half years ago, and now marked another landmark in Argentina colours after coming on during the second half.
Quick facts
- Mastantuono scored Argentina’s sixth goal in a 7-0 victory over Burkina Faso Under-23.
- Lautaro Martinez supplied the pass for the goal at the Monumental.
- He has four Fiorentina goals in eight appearances this season, scoring once every 128 minutes.
- His Serie A record includes 22 attempts, eight on target, nine successful dribbles and 2.28 expected goals.
- Fiorentina are due to face Genoa at Marassi after the international break.
The goal arrived with Argentina already 5-0 ahead, as Mastantuono converted Lautaro Martinez’s invitation. It offered a timely lift during an international window that will leave him little margin before Fiorentina resume their league campaign.
He is expected to be back at Viola Park only on Friday, the day before the trip to Genoa. Fiorentina will hope the confidence gathered with the national team can carry into a season that has begun slowly for the club.
The Viola have recorded just one Serie A win so far, and Mastantuono supplied all three goals in that success. Wearing No. 30 for both club and country, he has quickly moved beyond a difficult first year at Real Madrid and has already exceeded last season’s tally of three goals.
His start in Florence has made him a focal point for supporters and teammates alike. In Venice, his hat-trick made him the youngest Argentine player in Europe’s five major leagues to score three times in one match, surpassing a mark previously associated with his idol Lionel Messi.
Argentina’s schedule still includes the match against Benin on Wednesday, 7 October, when Messi is set to wear the famous No. 10 shirt for the final time. Mastantuono will then head back to Italy to reconnect with Fiorentina’s league campaign.
For all the excitement around him in Florence, the pressure remains different in Argentina. Mastantuono acknowledged that scrutiny has followed him since his first appearance at the Monumental as a 16-year-old.
“People in Argentina are very demanding of me,” he said. “I understand the expectations. Ever since I first stepped on this pitch at 16, there has been pressure and I always try to live up to it. Argentines can be tough with me, but I try to enjoy it. I love being with the national team, alongside experienced players who help me on the pitch.”
At international level he is competing for space among established names. At Fiorentina, he has become the young player expected to turn possession into a decisive moment.
There is still one part of his attacking contribution to address: assists. Mateo Pellegrino revealed that the two Argentines have made a private wager, with Mastantuono challenged to provide five of them.
“I told Franco he has to set up five goals for me,” Pellegrino said. The prize is a barbecue, already becoming a small Viola Park tradition after the pair organised one following Fiorentina’s first league win in Venice.
Fiorentina now need another occasion for that ritual. A result at Genoa would do more than reward Mastantuono’s strong individual opening: it would give the Viola a chance to push away from a sluggish start and begin shaping their place in the Serie A season.
