After 27 days of being on the bench or not playing, Messi returned to the starting role. He also scored a double to help Argentina win convincingly against Peru on the away field with a score of 2-0 on October 18.
Coach Scaloni remains committed to bringing Messi back to the main squad of the Argentina team after this famous player has completely recovered from his injury and regained his physical strength thanks to recent full training sessions.
Messi (middle) returned to the main competition and performed extremely impressively
Messi plays alongside Nicolas Gonzalez and Julian Alvarez on the “Albiceleste” attack, while in-form star Lautaro Martinez sits on the bench. In midfield is still the trio of Enzo Fernandez, Mac Allister and Rodrigo De Paul.
The Argentinian team only encountered a few obstacles against the Peruvian team who played very hard at the beginning of the match. But after that, they were able to show the bravery of world champions with two sharp counter-attacks, scoring two consecutive goals, both scored by Messi in the 32nd and 42nd minutes.
Messi’s double was extremely spectacular after extremely fast and accurate shots in the penalty area, from assists from Nicolas Gonzalez and Enzo Fernandez.
These 2 goals also helped Messi officially surpass his close friend Luis Suarez (Uruguay team), to become the highest scorer in the history of World Cup qualifying in South America with 31 goals compared to 29 goals.
Mac Allister contributed 1 assist for Messi to score
AFP
Messi (middle) shares joy with teammates
In the second half, Messi scored another goal for Argentina, but the referee ruled it out for offside after checking VAR.
The victory over Peru helped the Argentine team maintain a respectable record in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers for South America, winning all 4 matches, scoring 7 goals and not conceding a single goal.
“Albiceleste” is leading the table with 12 absolute points. Ranked next are Uruguay and Brazil with the same 7 points. The Venezuela team shocked Chile with a score of 3-0 and also had 7 points after 4 matches but ranked 4th due to poor score. Colombia and Ecuador drew 0-0, still holding 5th and 6th place with 6 and 4 points respectively. Paraguay team won 1-0 against Bolivia to keep 7th place with 4 points (position with intercontinental play-off).