Lionel Messi had two goals for Argentina in his last home World Cup qualifying match as Argentina won 3-0 against Venezuela.
Messi had two goals and Lautaro Martínez had one in Argentina’s 3-0 win. Messi was emotional on the pitch during Argentina’s warm up and he celebrated with two goals.
The first half saw Julian Alvarez get a chance on goal just minutes into the match but his effort was saved by the goalkeeper and out for a corner kick. Argentina would play the short corner and cross it into the area as Cristian Romero would score but he was offside.
Lionel Scaloni’s team did get a goal before the end of the half. Leandro Paredes would play a pass out wide to Julian Alvarez as he would dribble inside the penalty area, pass it to Lionel Messi and Messi would chip the goalkeeper and two Venezuelan players to score and give Argentina the 1-0 lead.
Nicolás González was substituted in for Franco Mastantuono. Messi played a pass to González but his effort was saved by the goalkeeper.
Messi would have the ball down the wings and he would play a pass which found Almada in front of goal but his effort went high and wide. Scaloni brought on Exequiel Palacios for Leandro Paredes and Lautaro Martínez on for Julián Álvarez.
Argentina were awarded a free kick and Messi would play a pass to Nicolas Gonzalez down the wing and he would cross it to Lautaro and Lautaro Martínez would score the header to give Argentina the 2-0 lead.
Thiago Almada would get an assist. He would receive the ball down the wing and pass it to Messi and Messi would score his second goal of the match.
Giuliano Simeone and Nico Paz were substituted in for Nahuel Molina and Thiago Almada.
Argentina would win 3-0 and they will play Ecuador on Tuesday in their last World Cup qualifying match.
LIONEL MESSI'S GOAL FOR ARGENTINA! 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/eteaBoN0pt
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) September 5, 2025
Lautaro Martínez scoring for Argentina! 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/tBrJgMsKPZ
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) September 5, 2025
LIONEL MESSI'S SECOND GOAL FOR ARGENTINA! 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/kO4M954kgC
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) September 5, 2025
Mastantuono His performance was average, not meeting expectations. He lacked the necessary coordination with Messi and the right-back. Currently, he lacks the ability to play one-on-one, preferring to receive the ball with his left foot and then push it from the right to the center, or even more often, to the midfield. His passes were sometimes inaccurate, and while he’s fast, he lacks creativity. My conclusion is that he currently lacks the quality to play as a starter for the national team.
T Almada is good ,can dribble can run and cordinate with messi .He really know how to play
Gonzalez is fast despite missing a good chance ,he plays ok enough
Nico paz with limited times ,however I am not convinced he can be up to the level of almada .
Actually both Mastantuono and Nico paz need huge amount of improvement .Mastantuono is more skilful than nico paz but just look like headless chicken playing without brain and with one foot only
We need Matias Soule who can dribble can give key pass ,can shoot ,can play one on one that is very useful .We also need true winger like Maher Carrizo (Velez ). Maybe Soule isn’t within scaloni ‘s plan but I think this season he will have a great breakthrough in As Roma . Finally if Mastantuono doesn’t improve, he will be put on bench soon especially in Real Madrid .
Thank you for the memories, thank you for making our fantasy a reality and thank you for making us smile, laugh, cry, jump, dance, scream, mesmerized, happy, sad but above all, THANK YOU for being you.
Great game with plenty to be content with.