Friendly: Zambia humbled by Argentina in Buenos Aires

An efficient Argentina scored early and never looked back on Tuesday evening in a 5-0 victory over visiting Zambia in their international friendly played at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires.

Julián Alvarez opened the scoring inside five minutes and Lionel Messi doubled the lead close to halftime for La Albiceleste, who faced little resistance from Chipolopolo over the ninety minutes. Nicolás Otamendi converted from the penalty spot early in the second half before Dominic Chanda’s own goal and Valentin Barco finished the scoring.

In Zambia’s only match of the March FIFA window, coach Moses Sichone opted to use the unprecedented opportunity to give chances to a few of the younger players in his squad. Over half of Sichone’s XI play their club football domestically and players like forward Kingstone Mutandwa and talented young midfielder David Simukonda were selected while Patson Daka started on the bench.

But Chipolopolo struggled to get a hold of the ball and were often left chasing a superior team that hardly had to shift gears. The visitors were limited to a couple of hopeful efforts in the first half that failed to challenge Emiliano Martínez.

And it didn’t get much better for the visitors, who were understably overmatched. Their lone shot on target came in the second half when Mutandwa was presented with an excellent opportunity, but his effort was well saved by Martínez.

The hosts finished off the match in style when Messi’s pass into the penalty area found Nicolás González, who cleverly backheeled the ball to Barco for the final goal in stoppage time.

See you soon, 𝐀𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚 💙

🇦🇷 Argentina 5 🆚 0 Zambia 🇿🇲

⚽ J. Álvarez, L. Messi, N. Otamendi & V. Barco pic.twitter.com/848t2HDKUD

— Selección Argentina in English (@AFASeleccionEN) April 1, 2026

But the experience against an elite team such as the 2022 World Cup champions will only help the young players involved for Chipolopolo. The next competitive fixtures lie ahead in September when the group stage of qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations begin.