BUENOS AIRES.- The Argentine team will play friendlies against Bolivia, Burkina Faso and Benin in September and October, reported this Tuesday the Argentine Football Association (AFA), in their first meetings since Lionel Messi announced his retirement from the Albiceleste.
The team led by Lionel Scaloni The international window against Bolivia will begin on September 30 at the stadium Mario Alberto Kempesin the province of Cordova (center).
It will be their first match since they lost the final of the North America World Cup 2026 in view of Spain (1-0) on July 19 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Then it will return to Buenos Aires to face Burkina Faso on October 3 and Benin on the 6th, both matches at the stadium River Plate Monument.
The first match must be played with a capacity reduced to 50%, in compliance with a sanction imposed by the FIFA.
The governing body of football sanctioned the Albiceleste after some of its players displayed a banner that proclaimed “The Malvinas are Argentine”, after the 2-1 victory against England in the semi-final of World.
The AFA announced that the team’s concentration will extend from September 21 to October 6, although it has not yet released the list of players called up by Scaloni for the three warm-up games.
If the three friendlies are classified by FIFA as Class A, they will count towards purging the suspensions of the players sanctioned for the brawls that occurred after the final of the World Cup.
The steering wheel Leandro Paredes received a tough ten-match penalty, followed by defender Nahuel Molinawith seven; the attacking midfielder Thiago Almadawith one; and the member of the coaching staff Roberto Ayalawith three.
new era
The series will mark the beginning of a new stage for the world runner-up without Messi, who announced his retirement from the national team at the end of August.
The 39-year-old star thus closed an international career spanning two decades, crowned with the Qatar World Cup 2022 and the 2021 America’s Cups and 2024, among other titles.
Scaloni’s continuity is also up in the air. After the defeat with Spain, he slipped that he might not renew his contract, which ends on December 31.
