At 7:30 Beijing time on March 26, a match in the South American qualifiers of the World Cup was contested, with Argentina facing Venezuela at home. In this game, Scaloni lined up in a 4231 formation. Due to the suspension of Damian Martinez, this time Almani played the starting goalkeeper. Molina, Pesselia, Otamendi and Tagliafico paired up at 4 defenders. De Paul and Paredes form a double back. Nicholas Gonzalez, Alexis McAllister and Joaquin Correa joined forces. Messi topped the front. Di Maria, Angel Correa and Ocampos sit on the bench. Romero and Lo Celso were suspended and could not play.
Messi tried a long-range shot shortly after the game started, but was saved by the goalkeeper. Three minutes later, Rondon also fired a long-range shot that was deflected. In the 16th minute, Argentina played a sharp counter-attack, Messi passed the ball to Correa, but Correa's low shot was blocked. In the 30th minute, Messi's shot was blocked and Tagliafiko's powerful shot was deflected. Three minutes later, Argentina finally scored and DePaul assisted Gonzalez in front of goal. Venezuela then had a chance to equalise, but Martinez's goal was deflected. Argentina led by one goal at the end of the half.
The second half was easy to fight again. In the 52nd minute, Messi's free kick was scored and confiscated by the goalkeeper. Three minutes later, Joseph Martinez's close-range header deflected off the top of the goal. Joseph Martinez missed two good chances. In the 61st minute, Ariste's push was deflected. In the 79th minute, Argentina scored again. Di Maria neche, who came off the bench, picked out the goal and scored in one fell swoop, which was picturesque! Three minutes later, goal-scoring Di Maria sent a superb cross that assisted Messi's one-handed goal. In the end, Argentina swept Venezuela 3-0. Argentina finished unbeaten with 11 wins and five draws in qualifying, scoring 38 points, second only to Brazil.
Argentina had an absolute advantage in this game, with 73% possession, 6 of 16 shots on target, and scored 3 goals. Venezuela, on the other hand, had only three shots on goal, one on target, and failed to score. In the post-match sofascore rating, Messi scored a game-high 9.3 points. Messi scored 7 shots, 3 on target, scored 1 goal, and 6 successful passes, 3 key passes, and played a near-dominant performance. This also brought Messi's goals in the World Preliminary Tournament to 28 goals, tying suarez and tied for the all-time top scorer in the South American World Preliminary Tournament!
Messi's wonderful performance has also made fans talk about it: "Look at how strong Messi is in the national team, you know that Pochettino has many dishes." "The way to play the ball to Messi is too good, De Paul's midfield coverage is too large, Di Maria's physical impact at half," this Argentina World Cup is worth looking forward to!" "I haven't seen Messi in a long time, and there is no doubt that Messi is the real Messi now." "Messi played well in Argentina and isolated in Paris."