Despite the absence of many stars, the home team Argentina still had the upper hand over Bolivia in the 10th match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America. Coach Lionel Scaloni’s team dominated right from the opening whistle.

In the 19th minute, the Bolivian defense made a mistake when Suarez slipped and lost the ball, the ball came to Messi’s feet and the 37-year-old superstar punished his opponent’s mistake with a gentle shot into the near corner, opening the score 1-0 for Argentina.

The home team continued to press the field and in the 43rd minute, Messi escaped to face goalkeeper Viscarra and instead of shooting, he passed the ball to Lautaro Martinez who easily put the ball into an empty net, raising the score to 2-0.

The nightmare of Bolivia’s defense continued in the last minute of injury time of the first half, Messi continued to demonstrate his excellent tactical vision with a pass that tore through Bolivia’s defense, creating conditions for Alvarez to score, raising the score to 3-0 for the reigning South American champions.

The second half had just started four minutes when Otamendi headed the ball into the Bolivian net, but VAR technology determined that Tagliafico had participated in the situation in an offside position. Messi almost scored twice in the 58th minute when he skillfully curled the ball into the far corner of the goal, but Villamil headed it away.

Argentina played calmly and in the 69th minute, young talent Thiago Almada had a neat finish to increase the score to 4-0. In the 84th minute, Messi completed his double by breaking into the penalty area and then finishing diagonally past goalkeeper Viscarra, increasing the score to 5-0 for Argentina.

Two minutes later, Messi exchanged passes with Nico Paz in the middle and then broke through himself, before unleashing a low, tricky shot that gave goalkeeper Viscarra no chance to block, helping Argentina easily lead 6-0.

During the remaining time of the match, Argentina played leisurely and maintained an impressive “6-star” victory, continuing to consolidate their leading position in the 2026 World Cup qualifying rankings with 22 points/10 matches.

In the match that followed, Brazil dominated when hosting Peru at home. In the 36th minute, a Peruvian defender handled the ball in the penalty area and the referee blew a penalty. Raphinha fooled the opposing goalkeeper and gave Brazil a 1-0 lead.