Messi May Be Playing His Final Game for the National Team on Home Soil

Buenos Aires—An emotionally charged evening is expected at La Bombonera on Tuesday as Argentina welcomes Zambia for the first time, and possibly bids farewell to Lionel Messi on home soil. With the 2022 World Cup Golden Ball winner’s international future uncertain, manager Lionel Scaloni has already confirmed that Messi will start against the 91st-ranked African side, having featured in the second half of Thursday’s low-key friendly.

The world champions arranged the pair of March fixtures after the conflict in Iran forced the cancellation of La Finalissima. Argentina opened the revised schedule with a 2–1 victory over Mauritania and will now look to entertain a packed stadium against a Zambia team still searching for form after a group-stage exit at the recent Africa Cup of Nations.

Zambia, crowned AFCON champions in 2012, has spent more than a decade outside the continental spotlight. Tuesday’s match marks the Copper Bullets’ first outing since that early 2025 tournament exit and offers Moses Sichone’s squad a rare chance to test itself against the globe’s top-ranked nation.

Kickoff is set for primetime in Buenos Aires, with viewers across multiple regions able to tune in. beIN Sports, beIN SPORTS en Español, fuboTV, Fanatiz, and ViX will carry the contest in the United States and Mexico, while OneFootfoot streams the action in the United Kingdom via a £3.99 pay-per-view pass.

Attention will then shift to the fast-approaching World Cup, kicking off in roughly 70 days. Argentina opens its group-stage campaign against Algeria on June 16 in Kansas City and has two additional warm-up matches penciled in before departure. Zambia, which failed to qualify for the tournament, has yet to announce its next fixtures beyond Tuesday’s historic visit to the Argentine capital.

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