Argentina Thrash Burkina Faso 7-0 Without Messi in Farewell Build-Up

Argentina demolished Burkina Faso 7-0 in a Buenos Aires friendly on Saturday night — without Lionel Messi, who was rested for Tuesday's farewell against Benin. The rout followed an extraordinary travel saga that nearly cancelled the match.

Seven goals, one statement

Argentina needed just four minutes to break the deadlock at the Monumental on Saturday night. Lautaro Martínez saw his penalty saved by the Burkina Faso goalkeeper, only to smash home the rebound and set the tone for a one-sided friendly that finished 7-0.

Burkina Faso defender Moumoune Diallo then turned the ball into his own net before Gianluca Prestianni, Nico Paz and Julián Álvarez added three more first-half goals. Argentina went into the break leading 5-0. Franco Mastantuono and Giuliano Simeone completed the scoring in the second half to seal the biggest win of this international window.

It was the second friendly of the week after the 4-0 rout of Bolivia, and it continued a ruthless theme: Argentina look just as dangerous without their captain as they did with him.

Five hours before kick-off

The match almost never happened. Burkina Faso's charter flight from Morocco was cancelled because of a technical issue, stranding the squad in Casablanca just days before the game. The federation scrambled for a replacement charter, and the team finally touched down in Buenos Aires barely five hours before kick-off.

Several senior players decided not to travel at all because of fatigue, so the visitors fielded a young side — and it showed. Burkina Faso managed only a single shot on target all evening, though their goalkeeper produced a string of saves that kept the scoreline from climbing even higher.

Lionel Scaloni made a point of thanking the visitors after the match: “They could have stayed, and the match could have been cancelled. We are enormously grateful they have been able to come because they made the effort,” the Argentina coach said.

No Messi — by design

Lionel Messi watched the rout from afar. The captain arrived in Argentina on Friday 2 October and was never part of the plan for this game: he was not called up for the Bolivia or Burkina Faso friendlies, and coach Lionel Scaloni left the choice of any involvement to the captain himself. In the end, he played not a single minute.

The strategy is deliberate. Every step of this international window points toward Tuesday, when Messi walks out at the Monumental for the friendly against Benin — his formal farewell from international football after a 21-year career with Argentina.

With Scaloni freezing the No. 10 shirt across the window and the whole squad geared around one night, the 7-0 thrashing doubled as a message: the team can dominate while their captain rests, saving everything for the send-off.

The next generation announces itself

Beyond the scoreline, the night belonged to Argentina's emerging names. Prestianni, Nico Paz, Mastantuono and Simeone all got on the scoresheet, continuing the pattern from the Bolivia game where Paz also found the net. Scaloni has used this window to rotate and evaluate alternatives for the post-Messi era, and the youngsters have answered emphatically.

Lautaro Martínez, the senior figure of the attack in Messi's absence, led the line with authority and was adjudged man of the match by several ratings outlets after opening the scoring and driving the press throughout.

All roads lead to Benin

Argentina now turn to Tuesday's farewell, the fixture everything has been built around. The squad will welcome Messi into the group, the Monumental will be full, and the golden No. 10 will be worn one final time.

The 7-0 rout answered every footballing question about this team without its captain. On Tuesday, the emotion takes over.

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