Messi's double helped Argentina beat Venezuela

The Argentina national team, the pre-winner of the CONMEBOL zone in the 2026 World Cup qualifying stage, hosted the Venezuela national team in the penultimate round. This was reported by Euro-football.ru.

The Venezuela team is fighting to participate in the intercontinental playoffs. Argentina's head coach Scaloni fielded Lionel Messi from the first minutes of the match.

Possibly, this was Messi's last home game for the Argentina national team. The first team to secure a spot in the intercontinental playoffs in the World Cup qualifiers was the New Caledonia national team.

The team that finishes seventh in the CONMEBOL zone group advances to the intercontinental playoffs. Venezuela was exactly in seventh place and maintained this position after the match.

Match protocol: Argentina 3:0 Venezuela. Goals: Messi 39th minute, Martinez 76th minute, Messi 80th minute.

The Argentina national team lineup included Emiliano Martinez, Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico, Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Lautaro Martinez, Lionel Messi, Franco Mastantuono, Tiago Almada. Among the substitutes were players such as Gonzalo Montiel, Alexis Mac Allister, Walter Benitez, Geronimo Rulli, Giovani Lo Celso, Leonardo Balerdi, Marcos Acuña.

The opening seconds of the game were worrying for Argentina, especially as there was danger in the penalty area. However, the game continued under control.

In the fourth minute, Argentina launched the first attack, with Julian Alvarez's shot saved by the goalkeeper. Venezuela's attacks were rare and ineffective.

Although the pass from Rondon was dangerous, it did not turn into a final attack. In the 22nd minute, Tagliafico made a low shot from the left wing, but the goalkeeper saved it.

In the 26th minute, Messi received a short pass and shot from outside the penalty area, but the goalkeeper saved it as well. In the 39th minute, Paredes took the ball from the opponent and passed it to Alvarez, who then passed to the center.

Messi deceived the goalkeeper with an excellent shot and opened the scoring. At the end of the first half, Almada's shot was saved by the goalkeeper.

In the second half, the Argentina team came close to scoring the second goal, but the goalkeeper played well. Messi dribbled past defenders several times and brought the ball in front of the goalkeeper.

Then Messi made an accurate pass from the right wing, the defender pushed the ball towards Almada, but his shot went over the goal. The second goal was scored by Lautaro Martinez.

Nicolas Gonzalez made an accurate pass from the left wing, and Martinez headed the ball into the net. The third goal was scored by Messi, who took advantage of Almada's pass from the right wing and shot into an empty goal.

There could have been a fourth goal and a hat-trick for Messi, but it was ruled offside. The Argentina national team defeated Venezuela 3:0.

In the middle of the game, Venezuela had a chance to equalize but failed to capitalize. In the qualifying table, Argentina leads with 38 points, while Venezuela has collected ten points less.

Author: Kirill Ivantsov