The Argentine national team extended its winning run through the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup with a 1–0 win over Chile in Santiago in the 15th round of matches. The decisive goal was scored by Julian Alvarez in the 16th minute after a brilliant assist from Thiago Almada. The match also featured several notable debuts and returns. Lionel Messi played his first game for the national team since November, coming on in the 57th minute to replace young Nico Paz. Making his debut in the final ten minutes was Franco Mastantuono—considered by many to be the world’s biggest football talent born in 2007 after Lamine Yamal. Still a River Plate player, Mastantuono made his first appearance in the sacred blue-and-white shirt on the same day it was announced he would join Real Madrid in a 45 million euros transfer.ARGENTINA GOALLLLLLLL ALVAREZ GIVES THE LEAD 0-1 pic.twitter.com/lKxPct2dk9— MessiMania (@M10Update) June 6, 2025 Although Argentina won by a narrow margin, there was no major drama. One brilliant move early in the match was enough. Almada delivered a perfectly timed one-touch pass to Alvarez, who calmly beat the Chilean goalkeeper to score his fifth goal of the qualifiers. Messi, who started the game on the bench due to a minor injury, came on in the 57th minute for Paz and helped stabilize the midfield. Even at 38, Messi brought composure and reminded everyone who still leads this generation. The night, however, was highlighted by the aforementioned Franco Mastantuono. The 17-year-old wonderkid from River Plate made his debut for La Albiceleste just a day after securing the biggest transfer of his young career. Entering in the 79th minute, he showed flashes of his talent despite the nerves, signaling that Argentina might have found an elite playmaker for the future.Entire Europe was after Argentine’s 17-year-old gem, but only Real Madrid winsChile, to their credit, were solid in the second half. Lucas Cepeda even struck the post, adding to the sense of a curse that has haunted Chile since their back-to-back Copa América final victories over Argentina in 2015 and 2016. Since then, they’ve failed to qualify for two World Cups, and now only a miracle can push them into the top seven and the intercontinental playoff spot in the final three rounds. With this win, Argentina has secured the top spot in the South American qualifiers and once again demonstrated that they play with the same intensity even in matches without pressure—perhaps even more so when facing Chile. That passion was on full display in Santiago, especially with the thunderous boos from the home crowd, arguably the loudest the Gauchos encounter anywhere on the continent.##NAJAVA_MECA_8967515##
