Messi’s Cameo Steals the Show in Argentina’s World Cup Qualifier Triumph

Lionel Messi made a noteworthy appearance during Argentina’s World Cup qualifying match against Paraguay in Buenos Aires on Thursday night, entering the game early in the second half.

The Argentine coach, Lionel Scaloni, initially held Messi back from the starting lineup due to his ongoing recovery from a leg injury. Instead, the team’s forward line featured Nico Gonzalez from Porto, Julián Álvarez from Manchester City, and Lautaro Martínez from Inter Milan.

The match kicked off with Nicolas Otamendi securing an early lead for Argentina through a skillful volley, and at halftime, they maintained their dominance. After the halftime break, Messi began his warm-up, much to the delight of the home crowd at Monumental.

During his 40-plus minutes on the field, Messi exhibited his trademark dynamism, assuming a commanding role in guiding Argentina’s offensive strategy. He created numerous scoring opportunities for his teammates and even struck the post with a free kick during the second-half stoppage time. Despite his involvement, Argentina couldn’t further extend their lead.

This victory adds to Argentina’s impressive record, as they have suffered just one loss in their last 50 games. Over this period, they have outscored their opponents 108-25 and achieved a remarkable record of 36 wins, 13 draws, and only one loss since their defeat to Brazil in the 2019 Copa America semifinals.

As the defending World Cup champions, Argentina has now accumulated nine points from three matches and will aim to continue their winning streak in an away match against Peru on October 17.

Leading up to this fixture, Scaloni’s Argentina had already secured two victories in CONMEBOL qualifying, triumphing over Ecuador 1-0 and Bolivia 3-0 in September. However, Messi missed the match against Bolivia due to the leg injury he had sustained in their first qualifier.

This injury also had repercussions for Messi’s club, Inter Miami CF, as he missed several games. Unfortunately, the team failed to make it to the MLS Cup playoffs after suffering a 1-0 loss to FC Cincinnati on Saturday.

In the lead-up to the match against Paraguay, there were doubts about Messi’s participation, with Scaloni stating that the decision to play or not would ultimately be up to the player himself.

Messi’s impact since joining Inter Miami in July has been nothing short of extraordinary, with 11 goals in 13 matches for the team. When he was on the field, Miami excelled with an 8-1-4 record, but they struggled without him, managing just a 1-3-2 record in the six matches he missed due to injury.