3-0,2 consecutive wins! The three-time World Cup winner, 60% possession and 15 shots, Messi has no chance to break the highland curse
The 2026 World Cup South American qualifiers continue, with the new World Cup champions Argentina away to Bolivia in the second round, which has a home advantage in the plateau, Argentina has been poor in highland operations, and Messi has not scored or assisted in three away games against Bolivia. In this round, although Messi traveled with the team, he did not enter the squad, Argentina won 3-0 away against Bolivia with goals from Enzo, Tagliafico and Gonzalez, winning two consecutive World Qualifiers.
Bolivia vs Argentina, the home team sent a starting line-up of 6.48 million euros, Abrego, Moreno partnered the attack, Veramir, Ursino, Arescata sat in midfield, Bejarano, Quinteros, Giussino, Sagredo, Fernandez formed the defensive line, and Vizcara guarded the gate. Argentina, Scaloni sent a 400 million euro starting lineup, Gonzalez, Alvarez, Di Maria partnered the striker, Enzo, McAllister, DePaul sat in midfield, Tagliafico, Otamendi, Romero, Molina formed the defensive line, Martinez guarded the gate, Messi did not enter the squad, sitting on the bench to watch.
In the 12th minute of the game, Enzo Fernandez advanced to the outside of the box with the ball and burst into a cold shot that was saved by the goalkeeper. In the 20th minute, Alvarez aggressively fought and made a successful tackle, then advanced into the box and shot from a small angle was saved by the goalkeeper. In the 28th minute, Bolivia counter-attacked and Ortiz's long-range shot was easily parried by Martinez. In the 31st minute, Di Maria broke through from the right and sent in a cross and Enzo Fernandez scored with a small-angle volley from inside the box, breaking the deadlock and leading Bolivia 1-0 away.
In the 39th minute, Toro stepped on Romero in the scramble and was shown his second yellow card of the game by the referee, after VAR intervened, the referee watched the video replay and determined that Toro's foul action was malicious, showed a red card and sent Toro directly, Argentina played one more person on the field. In the 43rd minute, Argentina won a free kick in front, Di Maria took a free kick into the box, Tagliafico jumped high and scored with a header that extended the score to give Bolivia a 2-0 lead away.
In the second half, the two teams exchanged sides and in the fifth minute, DePaul received a cross from his teammate and fired a long-range shot from outside the box that was saved by the goalkeeper. In the 70th minute, Alvarez dribbled into the middle of the ball and collided with his teammates before shooting low from the right side of the penalty area, and the ball hit the outside of the post and popped off the line. In the 72nd minute, Di Maria's long-range shot from outside the box was saved by the goalkeeper. In the 83rd minute, Alvarez received a long pass from a teammate at the front of the penalty area and stopped the ball slightly wider, which was snatched by the defender, Palaciosguan successfully snatched the ball, and González scored with a volley from a small angle in the box, and Argentina won 3-0 away to Bolivia.
According to the post-match data, Argentina's possession rate is 60%, 8 of 15 shots on target in the game, while Bolivia's possession rate is only 40%, 4 shots and 2 shots on target in the game. After this battle, Argentina won 2 games and tied for the top spot with Brazil. Messi has visited Bolivia three times before, no goals and no assists, although Messi went to Bolivia with the team in this round, but coach Scaloni considered that Messi was old and let him rest and did not play, so Messi still could not break the curse of no goals and no assists at home in Bolivia.