FIFA International Friendly | Tuesday, 9 June 2026 Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama | Referee: Jalal Jayed (MAR)
Messi came on in the 70th minute. A minute later Argentina had a penalty. He scored it himself. Twenty minutes, one goal, 15 of 19 passes completed. The 38-year-old is fit. The World Cup starts in six days. That is the story.
Argentina beat Iceland 3-0. Valentín Barco scored the first in the eighth minute with a strike from outside the box. Messi got the second from the spot in the 72nd. Thiago Almada wrapped it up in the 86th. Clean sheet. Second straight friendly win. Job done for Lionel Scaloni.
The concern going into Tuesday had been real. Messi left Inter Miami’s final game before the break in the 73rd minute with muscle fatigue in his left hamstring. Day-to-day, they said. He began partial training on Friday. Scaloni said before kick-off he would manage minutes carefully. He started on the bench. Iceland had their chance to exploit that absence in the first half.
They nearly did. The opening minutes were tense. Iceland pressed high and caused Argentina genuine discomfort inside the first few minutes. For a moment it looked like it might be one of those evenings. Then Barco struck.
It was a special goal. Not a simple finish — a clinical strike from outside the area, hit first time with real pace and direction. Rulli in goal for Iceland had no chance. Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama — a college football ground drafted in for the occasion — erupted. Argentina’s bench breathed out. 1-0 inside eight minutes and the anxiety dissolved.
The first half stayed that way. Scaloni made all his changes at half-time — Lo Celso, De Paul, Lautaro Martinez, Cristian Romero, Enzo Fernandez, Nicolas Gonzalez all came on. The second half had Argentina in full control and Iceland — despite the effort, despite Gylfi Sigurdsson coming on, despite Daníel Gudjohnsen arriving late as a substitute — never really looking like threatening.
Then the 70th minute. Simeone came off. Messi walked on. The crowd’s reaction was something different entirely.
Lautaro Martinez was fouled inside the box in the 71st minute — the goalkeeper involved in the contact. Penalty. Nobody debated who was taking it. Messi placed the ball. He struck it. Bottom left corner. 2-0. He jogged away raising his fist. In 20 total minutes he finished with a goal, 15 completed passes, one key pass. Sofascore rated him 7.7. That is Messi managing himself back to fitness ahead of his sixth World Cup.
Almada completed the scoring in the 86th minute. Thiago Almada — who replaced Nico Paz at 58 minutes — found space in the Iceland area after a sharp combination and finished. 3-0. Iceland had a very late chance for a consolation through Gudjohnsen but he could not control the ball in the six-yard box quickly enough. Full time.
Aron Gunnarsson was booked. Lautaro Martinez was booked. The usual late-game friction. Nothing that changed the outcome.
Argentina face Algeria on June 16 in their World Cup opener. The reigning champions. Messi’s sixth tournament. The whole country in America to watch it. After the 3-0 over Zambia in the previous friendly and now this, they go into the tournament in the shape Scaloni wanted. Di Maria retired. Otamendi retired after the friendly before this. The squad has evolved. It still has Messi. It still has De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Lautaro, Mac Allister. It still has every reason to believe.
Iceland go home. They are not at the World Cup. They qualified only through the play-offs for major tournaments twice in their history — Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. Tuesday night in Alabama against the world champions gave their players a last proper international game before the summer ends. Sigurdsson came on and had his moments. Gudjohnsen showed flickers. But 3-0 was the scoreline and it was fair.
Messi is fit. The World Cup begins. That is all anyone in Argentina needed to know tonight.
For live World Cup scores from the first game, visit fawanews.org.uk. Full squads, groups and fixtures at the official FIFA World Cup website.
Argentina 3-0 Iceland FIFA International Friendly | Tuesday, 9 June 2026 Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama | Referee: Jalal Jayed (MAR)
Goals: Valentín Barco 8′, Lionel Messi 72′ pen, Thiago Almada 86′ (Argentina) Yellow Cards: Aron Gunnarsson (Iceland), Lautaro Martinez (Argentina)
Argentina (4-4-2): Rulli; Montiel (Giay 58′), González N. (Otamendi 45′), Romero (C. Romero 45′), V. Barco (Mac Allister 42′); Medina, E. Fernández (Palacios 45′), L. Martínez (J. López 45′), Lo Celso; De Paul (Paz 45′), G. Simeone (Messi 70′) Subs: Almada (Paz 58′)
Iceland (4-4-2): Rulli (opp.); defenders; Gunnarsson, Jóhannesson (Sigurdsson), Magnússon (Hermannsson), Gudmundsson (Ingason), Óskarsson (D. Gudjohnsen); forwards including Thordarson, Haraldsson
Half-time: 1-0
