Argentina Hosts Bolivia Without Messi in Their First Match After the World Cup Final

Argentina seeks to regroup after the lost final and faces Bolivia in Córdoba with several new faces in Scaloni's lineup.

Argentina begins a new era without Messi

The Argentine national team will host Bolivia this Wednesday in their first match after the loss to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final and the first of three friendlies scheduled in the coming days, among which stands out the official farewell of Lionel Messi, who will only play the match on October 6 against Benin.

Lionel Scaloni's team includes some new faces compared to the squad that played in the last World Cup, some of whom could make their debut with the Albiceleste in the match this Wednesday at the Mario Kempes Stadium in the city of Córdoba.

The Bolivian team, for its part, arrives battered: on Sunday, it suffered its fourth consecutive defeat by losing 2-0 to Paraguay in a friendly match held in the United States.

Both teams face the long road to the 2030 World Cup from very different perspectives, as Argentina will try to overcome the recent announcement of Messi's retirement after more than 20 years in the sky-blue and white jersey, while Bolivia still doesn't seem to have recovered from the defeat against Iraq in the playoff for the last World Cup.

Córdoba will be the venue for the first friendly match

Lionel Messi announced his retirement from the national team on August 31, but the window of friendlies in September and October opened the door for the 39-year-old Inter Miami forward to say goodbye to his fans.

That will happen in the third match of the series, against Benin, at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires, where three days earlier Scaloni's team will host Burkina Faso.

Looking ahead to Wednesday's match, one of the main novelties for the Albiceleste team could be the inclusion of Agustín Giay, the right-back from Palmeiras who narrowly missed out on a World Cup call-up months ago.

In Monday's practice, the coach also included Nicolás Paz from Como in Italy and Valentín Barco from Chelsea in England in the starting eleven.

The forward line was made up of Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez, while the central defense included Lisandro Martínez and Cristian Romero, and in goal was Emiliano 'Dibu' Martínez.

The meeting is approaching

Bolivia, for its part, arrives at Wednesday's match in Córdoba under the pressure of showing a better level than the one displayed in the defeat against Paraguay.

In the match in Washington, the team led by Óscar Villegas showed few ideas in attack, and their best chance came from a penalty by Miguel Terceros that was deflected by goalkeeper Gastón Olveira.

After the visit to Argentina, the Bolivians will face Gambia as hosts in Santa Cruz de la Sierra on October 4th.

Probable lineups:

Argentina: Emiliano Martínez, Agustín Giay, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez, Facundo Medina, Alexis MacAllister, Exequiel Palacios, Valentín Barco, Nicolás Paz, Lautaro Martínez, and Julián Alvarez. Coach: Lionel Scaloni.

Bolivia: Guillermo Viscarra, Diego Medina Román, Efraín Morales, Diego Arroyo, Luis Haquín, Roberto Fernández, Miguel Terceros, Héctor Cuéllar, Carlos Melgar, Gabriel Villamil, and Fernando Nava. Coach: Óscar Villegas.

Stadium: Mario Kempes, Córdoba (Argentina).EFE