Argentina face Burkina Faso in final Messi audition at Buenos Aires’ Monumental

Argentina will look to extend their remarkable run of friendly victories when they host Burkina Faso at the Estadio Mas Monumental on Saturday evening.

The match is their penultimate fixture before Lionel Messi’s expected farewell, with the Argentina captain potentially making his 208th and final appearance for the national team. Lionel Scaloni has said the Inter Miami forward is available, although it remains uncertain whether he will feature against Burkina Faso before next week’s meeting with Benin.

Argentina returned from the 2026 World Cup final defeat by Spain with a comfortable victory over Bolivia on Wednesday. Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring, Nico Paz and captain Cristian Romero added further goals before the hour mark, and Jose Manuel Lopez completed a 4-0 win late on.

That result extended Argentina’s unbeaten winning sequence in international friendlies, which began after a 2-2 draw with Uruguay in 2019. Their victory over Bolivia was their 20th in a row in this format.

The 2022 world champions now want to make it 21 consecutive friendly wins and carry that momentum into Messi’s final appearance.

Burkina Faso should provide a sterner test than Bolivia, who had lost four successive matches without scoring before their defeat by Argentina. Amir Abdou’s side are known for an aggressive approach without the ball, although it remains to be seen how effectively they can apply that pressure in Buenos Aires.

The Etalons drew with Benin before beating Central African Republic 1-0 in September in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign. Those results left them second in Group F behind Benin and, at present, in a qualifying position for the 2027 tournament.

This will be the first meeting between Burkina Faso and Argentina. The Etalons have never reached a World Cup and have limited experience of facing football’s leading nations, particularly away from home.

Argentina’s recent friendly form is V, V, V, V, V, V, while their overall record is V, V, V, V, D, V. Burkina Faso’s friendly form is V, V, V, N, D, N, and their overall form is V, N, D, N, N, V.

Martinez went off with a possible injury against Bolivia, which could give Lopez the chance to start alongside Julian Alvarez. Paz is expected to retain his place after scoring and assisting in the midweek win. Matias Soule, Santiago Castro and Tomas Palacios are seeking their first caps after Roman Vega, Valentin Gomez, Ezequiel Fernandez, Santiago Simon and Leonel Flores made their debuts.

Burkina Faso’s Edmond Tapsoba recovered from an injury suffered against Benin to play against Central African Republic. Dango Ouattara remains doubtful after illness ruled him out of both qualifiers. If the Brentford forward, who has scored 12 goals, is absent, Lassina Traore could lead the attack. Traore has scored 14 goals in 33 appearances for Burkina Faso.

Probable teams

Argentina: E. Martinez; Giay, Romero, L. Martinez, Vega; Paz, Palacios, Equi, Prestianni; Alvarez, Lopez.

Burkina Faso: Koffi; Kabore, Djiga, E. Tapsoba, Kouassi; A. Tapsoba, Doucet, Ouedraogo; Bouda, Traore, Zagre.

Julien Bationo, Mamoutou Ouedraogo and Ismael Maiga could make their Burkina Faso debuts, after Aboubacar Camara scored on his first appearance against Central African Republic.

Argentina’s attacking quality is expected to prove decisive as they pursue a 21st consecutive friendly victory.