BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) 鈥� In what was likely his final home appearance for Argentina’s national squad, scored a goal and provided an assist in a 5-0 rout of Zambia on Tuesday night in a farewell friendly ahead of the .
The 38-year-old Messi set up Juli谩n 脕lvarez in the fourth minute and then scored in the 43rd at in Buenos Aires, his 116th international goal in 198 appearances for Argentina.
The crowd gave him a standing ovation and pleaded with him to help Argentina win another World Cup. The global tournament kicks off June 11 in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Nicol谩s Otamendi and Valent铆n Barco also scored for Argentina.
The defending world champions raised some concern after their lackluster performance last Friday in a over Mauritania.
In the lead-up to the Zambia friendly, coach Lionel Scaloni had warned that if the team didn鈥檛 improve its performance he would take drastic measures regarding the 26-man World Cup squad, which must be submitted by May 30.
For the last home game before the World Cup, Scaloni started with a lineup similar to that which defeated France in the 2022 final, with the notable exclusion of midfielder Rodrigo De Paul, who is recovering from a muscle injury and performed poorly against Mauritania.
Argentina, which also won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986, will open against Algeria on June 16 in Group J, followed by games against Austria on June 22 and Jordan on June 27.
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