After drab win, Argentina on alert with under 80 days to World Cup | OneFootball

Argentina sounded an unexpected alarm less than 80 days before the start of its title defense at the 2026 World Cup. After an unconvincing 2-1 win over a weak Mauritania side on Friday in Buenos Aires, voices within the ‘Albiceleste’ squad are calling for an immediate improvement in performance.

The gap between Lionel Messi’s team, with the star starting on the bench in the friendly played at La Bombonera, Boca Juniors’ iconic stadium, and Mauritania is enormous. Not only in historical terms, but also in the current rankings: Argentina sit third in the FIFA rankings, while Mauritania are 115th.

However, those disparities narrowed considerably in a friendly in which the reigning world champions performed far below expectations against a limited, though hard-fighting, opponent that celebrated the narrow defeat.

The warm-up friendly fueled concerns about the current form of the Messi-led national team, which has not faced any major European side since being crowned champions at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The next opponent, on Tuesday at La Bombonera, will be Zambia (91st in the rankings), another team that failed to qualify for the World Cup in North America.

“Very apathetic, to be honest. It was one of the worst friendlies we’ve ever played. We lacked intensity, our game lacked fluidity, and we lacked speed. It’s something that needs to be analyzed. When we wear the national team shirt, we have to perform much better,” goalkeeper Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martínez said after the match against Mauritania.

See also: All Gazeta Esportiva news Gazeta Esportiva’s YouTube channel Follow Gazeta Esportiva on Instagram

Scaloni sees the moment as a lesson

Dibu emerged as an unexpected standout, making several saves in a match in which the African side had more shots on target than the ‘Albiceleste’ did at the other end (11 shots to 7).

“They threatened us very often. But we got the win. We also didn’t know much about our opponent, and they played as if their lives depended on it. We need to show a little more grit. If we had played like that [against Spain, in the Finalissima], we would have lost,” added the Aston Villa goalkeeper.

During this FIFA window, the last before national teams call up their squads for the World Cup, Argentina had scheduled a clash with Spain in the Finalissima in Doha. However, the conflict in the Middle East made those plans impossible.

“The match was not good, that’s the truth. The team did not perform well, that needs to be said. But it’s good that this is happening now. These are things we need to work on and correct. We can play much better. There are no easy opponents nowadays, but what happened here serves as a lesson. I don’t believe the team has become complacent,” said coach Lionel Scaloni.

The coach approached the match against Mauritania with the intention of testing players ahead of the World Cup, including midfielder Nico Paz, who scored the second goal with a fine free kick, as well as center back Marco Senesi. He also gave playing time to attacking midfielder Franco Mastantuono and full-backs Agustín Giay and Gabriel Rojas.

“We gave the young players a chance, and we were able to see that they contributed. However, when a match gets complicated, everything becomes more difficult. But now, as we get closer to the World Cup, this is exactly the time when we need to evaluate them,” Scaloni added.

Messi’s last match in Argentina?

The coach said that “we should not look for excuses,” but also suggested that the squad may have been affected by the very serious injury suffered by forward Joaquín Panichelli.

The top scorer in the French league, who plays for Strasbourg, tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee during Thursday’s training session, meaning he will miss the World Cup.

“What happened to Joaquín affected us, because we could see that he was training incredibly well. Players can go onto the field worried, but that’s not something I can interfere with,” he explained.

The apathetic night even included Messi, who, after coming on, showed only a few flashes of his genius and left with visible signs of frustration and concern over his subdued performance.

Although his participation in the World Cup is widely taken for granted, the 38-year-old No. 10 has still not officially confirmed his presence in the tournament, in which his country shares Group J with Algeria, Austria and Jordan.

For now, Tuesday’s match could very well mark the last game of his career wearing the albiceleste shirt on Argentine soil.

“These friendlies are for testing. They help us draw many conclusions which, today, are not positive because everyone saw how the team played,” said Scaloni.

*By AFP

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.