The Argentina national team has dropped to third place in the latest FIFA rankings.
Argentina won one World Cup qualifying match and lost another as they lose their first place spot after three years. Spain is presently in first place with France in second place.
Lionel Scaloni’s team is in third with England in fourth place. Portugal are in fifth with Brazil in sixth place.
Netherlands stay in seventh, as does Belgium who stay in eigth. Croatia are ninth and Italy in tenth place.
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami have agreed to terms on a new multi-year contract.
Messi is set to remain at Inter Miami for the next few years. According to Michelle Kaufman, the Argentine will finish his career in Miami.
The 38 year old and Inter Miami have agreed to terms on a new multi-year contract with it being his final contract. An announcement is expected to be made in the next 10 days.
Joining Inter Miami in 2023 from Paris Saint-Germain, Messi’s current contract is due to expire at the end of this season.
The Champions League continues on Thursday with six matches, three of which involving Argentine players.
Wednesday had a total of 14 Argentine players eligible to play in the Champions League and Thursday has five, one of which is injured.
Exequiel Palacios is injured and is set to return to Bayer Leverkusen at the start of the year. Equi Fernández and Claudio Echeverri travel with Bayer Leverkusen and will play FC Copenhagen.
Zaid Romero and Club Brugge will host AS Monaco.
Mauro Icardi and Galatasaray travel to Germany to play Eintracht Fankfurt.
Here are the matches on Thursday:
FC Copenhagen vs. Bayer Leverkusen (Exequiel Palacios, Equi Fernández and Claudio Echeverri)
Club Brugge (Zaid Romero) vs. Monaco
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Galatasaray (Mauro Icardi)
Newcastle United vs. FC Barcelona
Manchester City vs. Napoli
The Champions League continues on Wednesday with six matches, four of which involve Argentine players.
Tuesday had 11 Argentine players eligible with Kevin Mac Allister scoring for Union Saint-Gilloise in their match, Enzo Barrenechea scoring for Benfica in their match and Gerónimo Rulli making 13 saves for Olympique Marseille against Real Madrid. A total of 14 Argentine players are eligible to play in Wednesday’s Champions League matches.
Last season’s finalists Inter with Lautaro Martínez travel to the Netherlands to play against Ajax. Francisco Ortega, Lorenzo Scipioni and Santiago Hezze with Olympiacos will host Pafos.
Chelsea will have Enzo Fernández, Alejandro Garnacho and Facundo Buonanotte for their match against Bayern Munich. Facundo Buonanotte was added to the team’s Champions League squad on Tuesday.
Alexis Mac Allister and Liverpool will host Atletico Madrid at Anfield. Diego Simeone will be without Julián Álvarez and Thiago Almada due to injuries but will have Juan Musso, Nahuel Molina, Giuliano Simeone and Nicolás González.
Here are the matches on Wednesday:
SK Slavia Prague vs. FK Bodø/Glimt
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Atalanta
Olympiacos (Francisco Ortega, Lorenzo Scipioni and Santiago Hezze) vs. Pafos
Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea (Enzo Fernández, Facundo Buonanotte and Alejandro Garnacho)
Ajax vs. Inter (Lautaro Martínez)
Liverpool (Alexis Mac Allister) vs. Atletico Madrid (Juan Musso, Thiago Almada, Nahuel Molina, Julián Álvarez, Giuliano Simeone and Nicolás González)
Franco Mastantuono made Real Madrid history in their 2-1 win against Olympique Marseille in the Champions League.
Mastantuono started for Real Madrid and became Real Madrid’s youngest starter in a Champions League match. At 18 years and 33 days old, he broke the previous record set in November 2024 by Endrick who was 18 years and 73 days old.
The Argentine was substituted out to a standing ovation from the Santiago Bernabeau fans. Following the match, compatriot Leonardo Balerdi, captain of Olympique de Marseille, had commented on Franco Mastantuono and stated that he should not be compared to Lionel Messi.
@EHcomps pic.twitter.com/3KHaANKKOE
— EH (@17ucls) September 16, 2025
