Argentina, the current world champions, have already qualified for the 2026 World Cup. Even so, five qualifying games are still left to play. Lionel Scaloni’s team had planned two matches in June, and now they’ve added four more. To prepare, Messi and his Argentina squad will travel to Asia and Africa for matches in October and November this year.
According to the country’s media outlet ‘TYC Sports’, Argentina is set to play a series of friendly matches later this year. In October, they will tour Asia and face a team from the continent, with two matches planned in China. In November, they will travel to Angola, a country in Central Africa, for a game against the hosts. After that, Argentina will head to Qatar, but their opponent there hasn’t been decided yet.
Another media outlet, ‘Ole’, reported that Angolan Football Federation President Fernando Alves Simeos recently met with Argentine Football Association President Claudio Tapia. They discussed starting sports projects and strengthening ties between the two countries. It was confirmed that Argentina will play Angola in a friendly match on November 11 to celebrate Angola’s 50 years of independence.
“Everything suggests that Messi will visit Angola,” Alves Simeos told Angolan media outlet RNA. At the same time, AFA president Tapia said, “We’re happy to welcome Angola’s football head, Fernando Alves. Both sides have talked about working together and creating new chances to grow the sport.” Angola, a central African country, last played in the World Cup in 2006 and is currently ranked 87th by FIFA.
The other countries for Argentina’s four friendly matches, besides Angola, are still not confirmed. However, reports say discussions are ongoing with the host nations to include one more opponent along with the two Asian teams, Qatar and China. Interestingly, Argentina has faced Angola before, beating them 2-0 in a warm-up game before the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Right now, Lionel Scaloni’s team has no matches planned for the rest of the year except for two World Cup qualifiers in June and September. To keep the team active, the AFA is arranging friendly games. Argentina will face Chile on June 5 and Colombia on June 10. Later, Messi and Martinez will play qualifiers against Venezuela on September 10 and Ecuador on September 15.