"What happened warrants punishments and resignations": a scandal in Argentina before Messi's farewell

A seven-goal thrashing in Burkina Faso: a disastrous behind-the-scenes story

Argentina cruised to a 7-0 win over Burkina Faso in Sunday's friendly at the Monumental stadium, with Lionel Messi absent.

Lautaro Martínez, Gianluca Prestianni, Nico Paz, Julián Álvarez, Franco Mastantuono and Giuliano Simeone all got on the scoresheet, with Moumini Diallo adding an own goal.

Burkina Faso faced exceptional circumstances. Their delegation touched down in Buenos Aires just hours before kick-off, forcing them to field a young side dominated by under-23 players. That made life even harder against the World Cup runners-up.

Messi now turns his attention to his final appearance in an Argentina shirt against Benin on Tuesday 6 October at the Monumental, his official farewell to the national team.

Exceptional circumstances: "the adventure of a lifetime"

French journalist Romain Molina has lifted the lid on the crisis surrounding the friendly between Argentina and Burkina Faso, revealing it went ahead in extraordinary circumstances. The African side were forced to field 13 players making their international debuts after a logistical shambles saw several of their stars refuse to board the flight out of Morocco.

Many of Burkina Faso's youngsters embarked on the "adventure of a lifetime", Molina wrote on X. They lined up against the World Cup runners-up at the Monumental, and some of them don't even hold professional contracts.

An unforgettable experience

Molina explained that the Burkinabe delegation touched down in Argentina less than six hours before kick-off, following a journey of around 12 hours. Only then was this young group thrown into one of the toughest tests imaginable, against a side packed with the world's elite stars.

"Whatever the result, this experience will stay etched in these players' memories forever," he added.

What happened warranted punishments and resignations

Molina took aim at both the Argentine and Burkinabé football federations. Argentine fans, he argued, had paid for tickets to watch a strong African national team, not a young side fresh off the back of travelling and featuring non-professional players.

What had happened, he said, warranted "sanctions and resignations" from officials at both federations. He branded the situation "organisational chaos".

He concluded: "I feel sorry for these young players. What can they do against the World Cup runners-up in such circumstances?".