Peru's national soccer team lost to a Lionel Messi-led Argentine side in their fourth qualifying match of the CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers held in Lima, Peru.
Motivated by the need to achieve the World Cup dream, the Peruvian players took to the National Stadium's field, with the urgency of accumulating points against the current world champion, Argentina, which was determined to remain undefeated in the South American qualifiers.
However, the Incas could not show a good game.
Lionel Messi scored both goals in Argentina's 2-0 win over Peru in the Tuesday match played at the National Stadium.
The Argentine team's captain put the world champions ahead in the 32nd minute with a shot from the center of the box to the top corner. He was assisted by Nicolas Gonzalez.
In the 42nd minute, Messi scored the second goal of the match with a shot after an assist from Enzo Fernandez.
Additionally, in the second half (57th minute), Messi scored but the goal was ruled out after a VAR review.
For their part, the Incas had shown a different attitude, compared to previous CONMEBOL qualifying games. Thus, in the first 15 minutes, the Peruvian side generated two opportunities of goal.
Then, in the 17th minute, Paolo Guerrero had an opportunity to score from a free-kick, but he was caught offside.
The last part of the game showed a clear control by the visiting team.
Peruvian fans were waiting for the national squad to get rid of the timid and ultra-defensive game plan used in the defeat (2-0) against Chile in Santiago so that it can fight as equal with a complicated Argentine team.
The last time Peru beat Argentina (1-0) in Lima was in 1985 in a 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifying match.