The 2026 World Cup can come for Argentina: During the comeback of the recently injured captain Lionel Messi, the defending champion Iceland confidently defeated.
In the clear 3-0 win against the Northern Europeans, Messi celebrated his return with a penalty goal to make it 2-0 (72nd minute). The superstar had come on as a substitute two minutes earlier after sitting out the previous win against Honduras due to a thigh strain.
The other goals in the game in front of 88,000 spectators in Auburn, Alabama, were scored by Valentin Barco (8th) and Thiago Almada (86th).
Lionel Messi continues to make history
For Messi it was his 117th goal in his 199th international match for Argentina. According to the association, the soon-to-be 39-year-old was named the Albiceleste’s oldest goalscorer. Messi replaced Ángel Labruna, who had held the record since 1958.
For Argentina, the World Cup begins on June 17th (3 a.m., live on ARD as well as in the live stream and audio stream on sportschau.de) against Algeria. The other group opponents are Austria with coach Ralf Rangnick and Jordan. This will be the sixth World Cup participation for Messi, who led Argentina to the title in Qatar in 2022.