Argentina vs Zambia LIVE: Otamendi scores from the spot! (3-0) 2026 international friendly

Otamendi bamboozled Zambia's goalkeeper. Patiently waiting for the goalie to make the first move and his low shot heads the other way. Argentina now lead 3-0.

A beautiful pass from Messi puts Almada off to the races. As he dribbled inside the box, he was tackled by a defender. Otamendi will take care of the penalty kick, as Messi handed him this opportunity.

The game resumes as Argentina lead Zambia 2-0 in Buenos Aires. Neither team has made any substitutions.

Argentina control the ball but are having trouble connecting passes close to Zambia's penalty box. Still, the different in hierarchy is proving to be lethal. Messi and company can score and make it look effortless, whereas Zambia must really break a sweat just to cross the half-line circle.

If Argentina truly find their A-game in the second half, the final scoreboard could get out of hand.

Far from playing their best game, Argentina still take a 2-0 lead at the break.

Who else? Messi in typical Messi fashion. A nice touch-and-go connection with Mac Allister and Messi beats Mwanza with a powerful shot.

Argentina answered Zambia's attack with a nice play of their own. Alvarez cross couldn't connect and trickled just wide of the right post. It seems Kangwanda's effort has served as a wake-up call for the home side.

A nice collective play from the visitors put Kangwanda with a good look at Martinez's goal. However, his shot with the left foot missed high and wide.

Though called for offside, yet another precise pass from Paredes found Molina all by himself inside the box. Argentina have only managed to reach Mwanza's proximity through these type of plays.

Aside from the early goal to open the scoring, Argentina have looked as slow and toothless as they did against Mauritania. The concerning issue is that this time they are playing their starting XI. Argentina fans are scratching their heads based on what they've seen so far.

Consecutive fast-paced counter-attacks from Zambia make it clear to Argentina they can't give the visitors an inch of green grass to run and exploit. If not, Zambia will make them pay.

Mac Allister and Fernandez aren't being as pivotal, but that's fine with Argentina because Paredes is making up for it. He has time to operate, and that is all he needs to find an open teammate with pinpoint passes. If it wasn't for him, Argentina would still be scoreless, and quite honestly, clueless on how to hurt Zambia.

Height has never been Messi's ally on a pitch, but he still puts his 5'7'' frame to good use. This time, he dribbled past a defender with a cheeky head touch that caught everybody by surprise. Even when he doesn't score, Messi can make highlight-reel plays.

Once again, a nice long ball from Paredes gets past Zambia's left side of the defense. This time it was Almada who entered the penalty box with the ball but couldn't get a shot off. The recipe for Argentina is now looking clear.

Zambia aren't pressuring Argentina, and the home side feels content to pass the ball around but without actually building momentum nor going forward.

Argentina are struggling to get ahold of the ball. Scaloni's side looks far from its best version, and some boos can be heard coming down from the stands.

Argentina are exploiting the mismatch on the right wing as Messi has no trouble getting past Zambia's left flank of the defense.

After a nice long pass from Paredes, Messi controls and passes to Alvarez who delivers a powerful, low-driven shot that found the back of the net. Argentina jump to an early lead in their first shot attempt of the night.

All 10 field players for Argentina are on Zambia's half of the pitch, as the visitors sit back and wait for a counter-attack.

Herrera blows his whistle and the game is underway between Argentina and Zambia.

Zambia will play a 3-1-4-2 scheme. Mwanza will be in goal; Mwaimanzi, Sinkala, Chanda; Chisala; Chisala, Simukonda, Kalusa, Kangwanda; Sakala, Mutandwa.

Argentina and Zambia walk into the pitch before the playing of the national anthems. After the ceremonies, the game will kickoff.

La Bombonera has capacity for roughly 58,000 fans. However, with minutes to go before kickoff, there are still many empty seats. Ticket prices, as well as the weak opponent, help explain the low attendance.

Marcos Senesi, Gabriel Rojas, and Tomas Palacios have been left off the substitutes' bench for the game against Zambia.

Looking ahead, this could be very telling of Scaloni's roster decisions. This could all but confirm that neither player will make Argentina's 26-man squad for the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

Lionel Messi leads Argentina onto the pitch as the "Albiceleste" warms up before the game against Zambia.

Aside from Messi, Martinez received the loudest ovation from the crowd at La Bombonera.

Messi recently surpassed the 900-goal mark and is showing no signs of slowing down. As it stands he has 901 goals in his career. After a quiet outing against Mauritania, Messi vies to make a bigger impact against Zambia.

Out of his 901 goals, Messi has scored 115 of them with Argentina (in 196 appearances), via Messi.com.

Argentina have faced African teams 25 times and boast a very favorable record against sides from the Cradle of Humankind.

Argentina have won 19 times against African opponents, drawn twice, and lost four times. However, this will be the first time Argentina go up against "the Real Africa", Zambia.

Alexis Herrera, from Venezuela, will be tasked with officiating the action between Argentina and Zambia. Fellow countrymen Lubim Torralba and Alberto Ponte will serve as his assistants. Lastly, Argentinian Leandro Rey Hilfer will be the fourth official.

This means that if anything happens to Herrera, Argentina's national team will be officiated by a fellow Argentinian. There will be no VAR in this international friendly.

Due to AC/DC's show at Estadio Mas Monumental, Argentina's national team had to change its home address for the international friendlies against Mauritania and Zambia. Instead, Argentina will play at La Bombonera.

According to ESPN, Argentina have played 37 times in this stadium, having won 26 times, drawn another 8, and lost in the remaining 3.

The last time Argentina lost at La Bombonera was against Uruguay (2-0) in the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers in November 2023.

After coming off the bench against Mauritania, Lionel Messi will start against Zambia.

Argentina will play with their traditional 4-3-3 scheme and these will be the starters: Emiliano Martinez (GK); Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico; Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister, Leandro Paredes; Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez, Thiago Almada.

Kickoff between Argentina and Zambia is scheduled for 7:30 pm ET (8:30 pm local time).

Watch Argentina take on Zambia live in the USA on Fubo. Other broadcast and streaming options include beIN Sports, Fanatiz, and ViX.

Welcome to Bolavip's live blog of Argentina's international friendly against Zambia. This will be Messi's last game in his home country before the 2026 World Cup. Needless to say, he hopes to go out with a bang.

Stay with us and don't miss a single moment as we keep you covered with minute-by-minute updates of this showdown.