November Friendlies Confirmed by the AFA
Argentina's national football team will face Uruguay and Costa Rica in two November friendlies, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) announced in a statement. The match against Uruguay is scheduled for November 13 in Buenos Aires, while the clash with Costa Rica will take place on November 17 in Córdoba. These will be the team's first games since Lionel Messi's official farewell from the national squad on October 6 against Benin.[S1][S2]
The Costa Rica fixture will almost certainly be held at the Mario Kempes stadium, where Argentina recently played Burkina Faso during the last triple round of friendlies. For the Uruguay match, it remains unclear whether Argentina will host at the Monumental, home of River Plate, or at the Bombonera, home of Boca Juniors. An initial plan for an Asian tour fell through due to organizational problems, prompting the AFA to seek opponents from South America and Central America instead.[S1][S2]
Scaloni's Future and Squad Renewal in Focus
One of the open questions that these friendlies could help resolve is whether coach Lionel Scaloni will continue in charge. Scaloni is in the middle of negotiations with the AFA to renew his contract. He has recently expressed optimism about staying on but has been cautious and has not declared the talks with AFA president Claudio Tapia finished. During the last round of friendlies, Tapia posted a photo with the coach on social media and said the dialogue was progressing positively toward a new contract.[S1]
Another point of interest will be the squad list. In the three matches after the 2026 World Cup, Scaloni introduced many new and young names, signaling a renewal of the roster that won the 2022 World Cup, the 2021 and 2024 Copa América titles, and the 2022 Finalissima. Scaloni also faces concern over an injury to Lautaro Martínez, the Inter striker, who suffered a strain in his left hamstring.[S1][S2]
Recent Form and Head-to-Head History
With these two matches, Argentina will close its 2026 season, which included reaching the World Cup final in North America, where it lost 0-1 to Spain. So far this year, the team ranked second in the FIFA ranking has played 15 matches and won all of them except the 2026 World Cup final against Spain, scoring 45 goals and conceding only nine.[S1]
The last time Argentina faced Uruguay was at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo, where the Albiceleste won 1-0 with a goal by Thiago Almada. Against Costa Rica, the most recent meeting was in March 2024, before the Copa América in the United States, when Argentina won 3-1 with goals from Ángel Di María, Alexis Mac Allister and Lautaro Martínez.[S2]
