Argentina 7-0 Burkina Faso: a rout against a U23 side that landed hours before kick-off

The Burkina Faso plane landed in Buenos Aires a few hours before kick-off. On Saturday night at the Monumental, Argentina ran out 7-0 winners against a side made up almost entirely of U23 players. The contest was over by half-time: 5-0.

Lautaro Martínez opened the scoring in the 4th minute, Moumouni Diallo turned one into his own net in the 8th and Gianluca Prestianni added a third in the 12th, before Nicolás Paz (34th) and Julián Álvarez (36th) piled on before the break. Franco Mastantuono (56th) and Giuliano Simeone (90th+2) completed the scoring after half-time. Three players marked their first international goals: Prestianni, Mastantuono and Paz. Lautaro, on 42 goals in 86 caps, is now the third-highest scorer in the history of the Albiceleste behind Batistuta and Messi. Scaloni used 22 players and handed first caps to Santiago Castro, Tomás Palacios and Matías Soulé.

Stranded in Casablanca, fielded at short notice

Burkina Faso, ranked 62nd by FIFA, had beaten the Central African Republic 1-0 on Monday in qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. Their chartered flight to Buenos Aires, scheduled for Wednesday, was cancelled without notice by the operator; by Friday evening the delegation was still stuck in Casablanca with no carrier, until a replacement aircraft was found. The side fielded that evening drew almost entirely on an emergency U23 squad: most senior internationals refused to travel, Foot Mercato reports, which points to difficult travel conditions and the absence of a bonus. The website quotes the journalist Romain Molina: the Argentine federation keeps all the receipts from the tour, and Burkina Faso leaves with nothing.

“A shameful match”, headlines La Nacion

In front of a half-empty stadium, the Argentine press delivered its verdict without crowing. “A shameful match”, headlines La Nacion, which wonders what Scaloni could possibly learn “from a match where the balance of forces barely existed”. Clarin calls it “more than a friendly, a disgrace”. Scaloni thanked the Burkinabè players, who in his words “do football credit”, and said he would pick stronger opponents if he had the choice.

Messi, who arrived on Friday, did not play. His farewell comes on Tuesday at the Monumental, against Benin, ranked 93rd by FIFA. This 7-0 carries no lesson anywhere: a U23 side fresh off the plane from Casablanca measures nothing, and even the Argentine press draws no conclusion from it.