Uruguay Beat Argentina 2–1 at La Bombonera in First Game After Messi’s International Retirement
Uruguay beat Argentina 2–1 at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires on Friday, 13 November 2026 local time, early on 14 November in India. A Leonardo Balerdi own goal and a Maximiliano Araújo strike put Uruguay two ahead soon after half-time. Julián Álvarez cut the lead to one, but Uruguay held on in Argentina’s first match since Lionel Messi retired from international football.
The Argentine Football Association match report confirms the score and venue. Associated Press identifies the friendly as Argentina’s first match since Messi’s international retirement in early October. The game gave both sides a chance to test their line-ups in the same international window.
The two goals that changed the friendly
The teams reached half-time level. In the 48th minute, Balerdi turned the ball into his own net and Uruguay took the lead. Five minutes later Araújo added the second. The short interval between those goals mattered: Argentina went from playing a level match to chasing two goals against a side that could protect its advantage.
Álvarez pulled a goal back in the 72nd minute. beIN Sports’ goal highlights show the sequence, including Álvarez converting after another opportunity opened up for him. The finish left time for Argentina to seek an equaliser. The score remained 2–1 through the end.
That is a useful way to read the result if you only saw the final score. The goals did not arrive evenly across the game. Uruguay’s decisive spell came just after the restart, and Argentina’s reply came late enough that it had a limited stretch to turn the game around.
Who started for Argentina and Uruguay
Lionel Scaloni’s starting attack included Álvarez, Thiago Almada and Nico Paz. Enzo Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister started in midfield with Exequiel Palacios. Gerónimo Rulli started in goal. Those names matter for readers following how Argentina organises its attack in the next international window. Álvarez was in the line-up from the start and supplied the team’s only goal.
Uruguay’s line-up included Darwin Núñez, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Rodrigo Bentancur and Maximiliano Araújo. Diego Forlán was in charge of Uruguay. The two-goal lead gave his side a position to defend after Argentina increased the pressure. The friendly score records the outcome of that evening, and later matches will provide more evidence about which combinations each coach keeps using.
What the result counts for
The fixture was an international friendly. There were no qualifying points at stake. La Bombonera, Boca Juniors’ stadium, was the venue for this edition of the Río de la Plata rivalry. Its setting and the first Argentina line-up of the post-Messi period gave the game an audience beyond the score itself.
Argentina’s association lists the starting players from both sides. It places Balerdi in central defence with Lisandro Martínez among the defenders, while both Uruguay goals went into Rulli’s net. For Uruguay, the scoreline also shows the benefit of a two-goal cushion. Álvarez restored pressure with his reply, but a second Argentina goal was still needed to draw. The first two goals therefore left room for one mistake or one good finish by the home attack without losing the lead.
Readers comparing coverage across countries can use the local fixture date when looking up the teams and the Indian date when checking when the result appeared. Both records point to the same 2–1 friendly.
The date appears as 13 November in the home association’s fixture information because the match took place on Friday evening in Argentina. Indian readers following the result on Saturday morning were seeing the same game. For the match record, the headline facts are Uruguay’s 2–1 win, its goals in the 48th and 53rd minutes, and Álvarez’s reply in the 72nd.
