Lautaro Martinez scored one goal and assisted two as Argentina thrashed an understrength Burkina Faso side 7-0 in a friendly marred by travel disruption.
Argentina 7-0 Burkina Faso: Martinez gets three goal involvements as makeshift visitors thrashed
Lionel Scaloni put out a strong Argentina lineup against Burkina Faso on Saturday, and he was rewarded with a dominant seven-goal win.
The visitors only arrived in Buenos Aires six hours before kick-off due to their original flight from Morocco being cancelled, and with several first-team players opting not to travel due to fatigue, head coach Amir Abdou fielded a youthful team.
Unsurprisingly, they were no match for the World Cup runners-up, who stormed into a five-goal lead before half-time.
The opening goal came just four minutes in, after Monmouni Diallo scythed down Agustin Giay near the byline on the right-hand side. Martinez's resulting penalty was saved by Razack Guira, but the Inter man was alive to the rebound to finish left-footed.
Argentina's second goal was a comedy of errors from Burkina Faso's point of view, as Julian Alvarez's cross was turned into his own net by Diallo, and Gianluca Prestianni made it 3-0 after just 12 minutes, having exchanged passes with Martinez.
The fourth and fifth goals arrived within 86 seconds of each other later in the first half. Nico Paz brought down Alexis Mac Allister's lofted pass and tucked home, then a cheap giveaway from Hasamadou Ouedraogo was punished in slick fashion by the Albiceleste, with Prestianni centring for an Alvarez tap-in.
Mercifully for Burkina Faso, the goals dried up somewhat in the second half, though Argentina still added two more.
The first of those came from Franco Mastantuono, who finished left-footed after being found by Martinez on the counter, and the Real Madrid winger was also involved in the build-up to the stoppage-time seventh. He found Valentin Barco on the left side of the area, and a lofted delivery from the Chelsea man was headed in by Giuliano Simeone.
Martinez maintains Argentina hot streak
With Lionel Messi set to make a farewell Argentina appearance against Benin on Tuesday, there was a danger of their preceding games being overlooked.
But Lionel Scaloni has certainly taken them seriously, and this victory – which came off the back of a 4-0 thrashing of Bolivia – saw several young players state their case for a central role in Argentina's new era.
Four of the hosts' six goalscorers were aged 23 or younger, though there was still room for two members of their 2022 World Cup-winning squad – Martinez and Alvarez – to contribute.
Martinez now has a hugely impressive 42 goals in 86 senior caps for Argentina, and half of those (21) have come since the start of 2024, having made his international debut way back in 2017.
Argentina's margin of victory was the joint sixth largest in their history and their joint-biggest since 1975, having also won 7-0 against Curacao (in 2023), Bolivia (in 2015) and Hong Kong (in 2014) in that time.
