Messi named in Argentina squad for Angola friendly

Buenos Aires, Nov 7 Lionel Messi will lead Argentina in a November 14 friendly against Angola in Luanda, as manager Lionel Scaloni named a 24-man squad which includes three uncapped players

Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni, Strasbourg forward Joaquin Panichelli and Como midfielder Maximo Perrone were the newcomers among the call-ups for the South American champions, reports Xinhua.

The November 14 clash in Luanda will be the South American team's only friendly of the upcoming FIFA international window.

As expected, Messi headlines an attack that also features Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez.

The reigning World Cup and Copa America champions will be without goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who is recovering from a calf injury.

The friendly will be one of the last chances for Scaloni to experiment with this squad before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Last month, Messi became the player with the most assists in men’s international football after setting up two goals in Argentina’s 6-0 thrashing of Puerto Rico in an international friendly at Chase Stadium.

His pair of assists took his international tally to 60, surpassing Neymar and Landon Donovan, who each have 58. With this achievement, Messi is now just three assists short of 400 across his professional career.

The Argentine great also won the 2025 MLS Golden Boot last month, netting 29 goals to become the league's leading scorer in his second full season with Inter Miami.

Messi contributed 19 assists as he outperformed LAFC's Denis Bouanga (24 goals) and Nashville SC's Sam Surridge (24 goals). He becomes Miami's first-ever Golden Boot winner and the first Argentine to claim the award since Valentín "Taty" Castellanos did so with New York City FC in 2021.

Argentina squad:

Goalkeepers: Geronimo Rulli, Walter Benitez.

Defenders: Nahuel Molina, Juan Foyth, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Senesi, Nicolas Tagliafico, Valentin Barco.

Midfielders: Alexis Mac Allister, Maximo Perrone, Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Thiago Almada, Giovani Lo Celso, Nicolas Paz.

Forwards: Lionel Messi, Giuliano Simeone, Gianluca Prestianni, Nicolas Gonzalez, Lautaro Martinez, Jose Manuel Lopez, Julian Alvarez, Joaquin Panichelli.

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