At 8 a.m. Beijing time on November 17, in the fifth round of the South American zone of the 2026 US-Canada-Mexico World Cup Qualifiers, Argentina will host Uruguay. In the first half, the two sides clashed, Messi locked the opponent, and then Araujo scored to give the visitors the lead, and in the second half, Messi's free-kick hit the crossbar and Nunez sealed the victory before the end. In the end, Argentina lost 0-2 at home to Uruguay and suffered its first defeat in the world preliminaries.
In the first four rounds of the World Preliminaries, Argentina won all of them and did not concede one goal, ranking first in the standings, and Messi scored three goals to lead the scorer list. Uruguay are in third place with two wins, one draw and one loss, and the 36-year-old Suarez returned to the Uruguayan team to greet Messi before the game. The head coach of the Uruguayan team is the Argentine coach Bielsa, who coached the Argentine team in the 2002 World Cup.
In the second minute of the opening game, Nunez knocked down Messi while defending, who was in great pain, and Argentina won a free kick in front of the penalty area. De Paul drove the ball to the back post and the Argentine player's cross was cleared by the Uruguayan defender. In the 10th minute, the Uruguayan team kicked off the ball at the back, and Nunez, who stepped forward, shook off the defender with his speed and entered the right side of the penalty area to volley into the far corner, and the ball was missed.
In the 13th minute, Messi hit a long-range shot after passing in front of the penalty area, and Uruguayan goalkeeper Rochete held the ball. In the 20th minute, Romero was brought down by the touchline, and a skirmish broke out between the two sides, with Messi rushing up to head out for his younger brother and lock up his opponent.
In the 22nd minute, the smell of gunpowder continued, and Ugarte pushed Messi from behind in defense, and the players from both sides surrounded again. Argentina won a free-kick in front of the arc, and Messi hit the wall with the penalty.
In the 36th minute, Messi took the ball and got rid of it continuously, passing the two tall defenders of the Uruguayan team, and Araujo could only stop Messi with a foul. In the 37th minute, Argentina passed the ball into the penalty area, and Alvarez turned and volleyed the ball wide.
In the 41st minute, the Uruguayan team went straight to the left side of the penalty area, and the Argentine defender had cut off the ball, but Viña successfully crossed after the counter-robbery, and the unguarded Araujo at the back of the penalty area pushed the far corner, and the Uruguayan team led Argentina 1-0, which was the first goal conceded by the World Cup champion in this World Preliminary Tournament.
In the 45th minute, Messi hoisted a free kick from the right side into the penalty area, and the Argentine player's tackle was blocked by Rochte. At the end of the first half, Argentina fell behind at home.
In the second half, Lautaro came off the bench. In the 50th minute, Argentina won a free kick on the right side of the front, and Messi hit the wall with the penalty. In the 54th minute, Scaloni was replaced by Di Maria. In the 57th minute, Argentina won a free kick on the right side in front of the penalty area, and Messi chose to shoot directly, and the ball went around the human wall and hit the crossbar out of the bottom line.
In the 60th minute, De Paul pressed his body against Maximiliano's calf while struggling with his opponent, who fell to the ground in pain and could not hold on to being stretchered off. Since then, the Argentine team has become more and more impatient, and Lautaro and Romero have received yellow cards one after another.
In the 87th minute, Messi's shot in front of the penalty area was blocked, and the Uruguayan team counterattacked, and the straight plug in the back field found Nunez, who received the ball to form a single knife, and rushed to the right side of the penalty area to volley the goal, and the Uruguayan team led Argentina 2-0.
In the end, the game ended with Argentina losing 0-2 at home to Uruguay.