Argentina Emerges Victorious Even Without Messi on the Field – Comparing Messi’s and Ronaldo’s Reactions to Teammates’ Goals

In the match between Bolivia vs Argentina in the second leg of the 2 World Cup qualifiers in South America, despite the absence of captain Lionel Messi, on the day Di Maria shined with a double assist, the world champions still got 2026 points.

SCORING

Argentina: Fernandez (31′), Tagliafico (42′), Gonzalez (83′)

RED CARD

Bolivia: Roberto Fernandez (39′)

In the match a few days ago, Argentina had to struggle to defeat Ecuador. In the second match, Argentina had to play away to Bolivia. Although Bolivia is much weaker than Argentina in terms of class, they possess a huge advantage is the Hernando Siles Stadium in the capital La Paz with thin air that can make the visitors … vomit right on the field.

In this competition, Messi was not on the registration list. That meant he temporarily missed the chance to surpass Luis Suarez (Uruguay) to become the top scorer in history in South American World Cup qualifiers (both have 2 goals).

Despite the absence of a captain, Argentina still managed to deploy a completely dominant game against Bolivia and in particular, Di Maria’s brilliance helped Argentina deploy a bright and always dangerous attacking position.

In the 31st minute, Argentina got the opening goal. The scorer for the visitors was Enzo Fernandez. From Di Maria’s cross, Enzo Fernandez struck in quickly to score for the defending champions. In the 39th minute, Bolivia were even more disadvantaged when Roberto Fernandez was disqualified. Just 3 minutes later, Argentina doubled the gap through Tagliafico.

Having gained an advantage in both score and personnel, Argentina actively reduced the tempo in the second half. Bolivia desperately tried to push their squad high but were reluctant to find a goal to close the gap. In the 83rd minute, Nicolas Gonzalez scored to seal a 3–0 victory for Argentina. With 6 points after 2 matches, Argentina temporarily overtook Brazil to rise to the top of the 2026 World Cup qualifying standings in South America.

Bolivia vs Argentina Match Lineup

Bolivia: Viscarra, Bejarano, Sagredo, Jusino, Fernandez, Quinteros, Ursino, Arrascaita, Vilamil, Moreno, AbregoArgentina: E.Martinez, Otamendi, Tagliafico, Molina, Romero, Di Maria, De Paul, Mac Allister, E.Fernandez, N.Gonzalez, J.Alvarez