Lionel Messi Shines in Argentina's 3-0 Victory Over Iceland
Lionel Messi needed barely a heartbeat to remind Argentina – and the rest of the world – that he is walking into another World Cup with his instincts razor sharp.
On a humid night in Auburn, Alabama, the 38-year-old stepped off the bench, touched the ball once, and the game bent to his will. Within seconds he had sliced Iceland open, drawn a foul on Lautaro Martínez, then smashed the resulting penalty into the roof of the net. Argentina’s final tune-up ended in a comfortable 3-0 win, but the real story was that familiar left foot and what it still promises.
Messi’s instant impact
Messi had sat out the previous friendly against Honduras, nursing left hamstring soreness that had cut short his last outing for Inter Miami on May 24. Argentina handled him carefully again here, keeping him wrapped in a tracksuit until the 70th minute.
The wait only sharpened the anticipation.
His first involvement was vintage: a perfectly weighted through ball that sent Martínez clear. Iceland goalkeeper Elias Olafsson clattered into the striker, and the referee pointed to the spot. Messi strode up and lashed the penalty high, unreachable, for the 117th international goal of his career.
With that, any lingering doubts about his World Cup readiness faded into the Alabama night. This month he is poised to join Cristiano Ronaldo as the first men’s players to appear at six World Cups, another layer of history for a career already overflowing with it.
He wasn’t done. Drifting between the lines, he soon threaded another pass into space, this time for Rodrigo De Paul. The midfielder squared across goal, and Thiago Almada arrived to tap in Argentina’s third. Two passes, two goals created, one scored. Twenty minutes, total control.
Scaloni’s experiment, Barco’s moment
Before Messi’s entrance, this was Lionel Scaloni’s laboratory.
With Julian Álvarez, Enzo Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister all starting on the bench, the Argentina coach rolled out an experimental side in front of an 88,000-strong crowd. It looked risky early on. Iceland carved out the first big chance of the night, only for Mikael Egill Ellertsson to blaze over with the goal gaping.
The punishment came quickly.
Iceland failed to clear a goalmouth scramble and the ball spilled to Strasbourg defender Valentín Barco on the edge of the area. One touch to set, one to drive low into the bottom corner. A defender by trade, but in that moment, a ruthless finisher. Argentina had their lead, and Barco had his first major claim for a World Cup role.
Nico Paz, handed a valuable audition in Messi’s absence, found the stage less kind. He burst through for a glorious opportunity to make it 2-0 before half-time, only to see his powerful strike cannon off Olafsson’s face and away. The chance, and perhaps a little of his confidence, went with it.
At the break, Scaloni reshaped the side. Fernández and Mac Allister came on among five changes, adding control and rhythm to the midfield. Martínez joined the fray as well and quickly found space in the box, twice striking the post when he should have buried the game.
The crowd grew restless. They wanted one man.
The roar for No. 10
When Messi finally peeled off his training top and stepped toward the touchline, the noise inside the stadium surged. This was only a friendly, thousands of miles from Buenos Aires, yet the reaction felt like a World Cup knockout night.
He slotted into the game as if he had been there from the start. Every touch drew a murmur, every feint a rise from the stands. The scoreline read 1-0 when he arrived; by the time the final whistle blew, Argentina were three clear, unscathed, and their captain looked like he had never been away.
This was not a night for grand statements about tactics or selection. It was a night to check fitness, to test combinations, to see who might squeeze into the final squad. On that front, Scaloni leaves Auburn with a tidy list: Barco impressed, Almada scored, Martínez found chances even if he lacked finishing luck, and Fernández and Mac Allister slipped back into their familiar roles with ease.
But the enduring image is Messi, arms aloft after another emphatic penalty, then gliding between Iceland shirts as if the years have not touched him.
Iraq stumble, Venezuela sharpen
While Argentina polished their credentials, Iraq endured a far more sobering final rehearsal in Bridgeville, Illinois.
Facing Venezuela, they conceded early and never quite recovered, falling 2-0 in a performance that will worry coach and supporters alike heading into their first World Cup finals appearance in 40 years.
Cristian Cásseres set the tone in the 17th minute, arriving in the box to finish from close range and give Venezuela control. Any hope of a reset after the break evaporated almost immediately. Cásseres snapped into a challenge, won the ball, and slipped it to Jesús Ramírez. The striker glided past a defender and hammered a powerful shot beyond the goalkeeper for 2-0.
Iraq’s night deteriorated further when forward Ali Youssef received a straight red card in the 72nd minute, leaving them to finish with 10 men and little chance of a response.
They now head to the World Cup with questions swirling. The wait has been four decades; the margin for error in Group I will be far shorter. Norway await on June 17, followed by France and Senegal. Defensive discipline, composure in midfield, and cutting edge up front must arrive quickly, or this long-awaited return could be brutally brief.
Argentina, by contrast, leave the United States with their captain scoring, their depth tested, and their ambitions intact. Messi’s sixth World Cup is almost here. The only real unknown now is how far he can drag his country this time.
