Argentina's forward Lionel Messi commented on the 9th round match of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup against Venezuela.
It was very difficult. The match turned very ugly, very rough; we couldn't complete two passes in a row. It's tough to play like that. We played the game we had to play because of the pitch.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Salomón Rondón scoring for the hosts and Nicolás Otamendi scoring for the visitors. Notably, the start of the match was delayed by half an hour due to the condition of the field.
Argentina currently leads the group with 19 points, while Venezuela sits in sixth place with 11 points.
Earlier, Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was suspended by FIFA for two matches after shoving TV camera following the match against Colombia in the 8th round of CONMEBOL qualifiers (which ended 2-1 in favor of Colombia).
In addition, Goal magazine has named Argentina as the leading contender for victory in the 2026 World Cup.
