Uruguay beat Argentina 2-1 at La Bombonera in first meeting since Messi exit

Uruguay beat Argentina 2-1 in an international friendly at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires on Friday 13 November 2026, according to a match report by beIN Sports. It was Argentina's first match against Uruguay since Lionel Messi left the national team, beIN Sports and Athlon Sports reported.

Uruguay's scorer was Maximiliano (Maxi) Araújo. He is a different player from Ronald Araújo, the Uruguay centre-back who made pre-match headlines with comments about Argentina without Messi. A line-up published by Athlon Sports and carried by Yahoo Sports lists Ronald Araújo among Uruguay's starting defenders. How many minutes he played has not been confirmed.

How the goals were scored

The first half ended 0-0. In the 48th minute the ball deflected off Argentina defender Leonardo Balerdi and into his own net, beIN Sports reported. VAVEL's live blog also recorded the goal as a Balerdi own goal.

Maxi Araújo made it 2-0 in the 53rd minute. Julián Álvarez pulled one back for Argentina in the 73rd minute, finishing after a diagonal pass from Gianluca Prestianni, according to VAVEL. beIN Sports said Argentina could not find an equaliser.

beIN Sports is the only source reviewed for this article that reports the full-time score. VAVEL's live coverage stopped at the 77th minute with the score at 1-2. A same-day ESPN Deportes headline said Argentina had lost to Uruguay ("Argentina cayó ante Uruguay") but did not give the score in the material available.

beIN Sports listed the kick-off as 6pm Eastern Time, which is 2300 UTC and 6am on Saturday in Jakarta. Timestamps on VAVEL's live blog do not line up exactly with that schedule, so the precise start time should be treated with some caution.

Who played

For Argentina, coached by Lionel Scaloni, beIN Sports reported that Nicolás Otamendi and Leandro Paredes are no longer part of the squad and that Lautaro Martínez and Rodrigo De Paul were unavailable. Athlon Sports said Lautaro Martínez was not called up because of injury.

Uruguay were led by Diego Forlán, the former striker, in his fourth match as interim coach after Marcelo Bielsa's departure. beIN Sports reported that Forlán is expected to stay in charge while the Uruguayan federation prepares to appoint a permanent coach in 2027.

Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde had missed Uruguay's friendlies against Japan, South Korea and India through injury, beIN Sports said. He came on as a substitute in the 62nd minute, according to VAVEL.

beIN Sports published a predicted line-up before the match that differs from the starting teams reported by Athlon Sports. According to the editorial check of the published line-ups, Almada started for Uruguay's opponents' rivals list rather than as predicted: Thiago Almada started for Argentina in place of the predicted Giuliano Simeone, and Uruguay started Canobbio rather than Valverde.

Two players named Araújo

The shared surname has a history at this stadium. On Uruguay's previous visit to La Bombonera, in November 2023, Uruguay won 2-0. ESPN Deportes reported at the time that Ronald Araújo opened the scoring, and beIN Sports said Darwin Núñez also scored that night. In the same 2023 match, Maxi Araújo left the field injured, ESPN Deportes reported.

This time the roles were reversed: Maxi Araújo scored and Ronald Araújo, according to the Athlon Sports line-up, started in defence.

What Ronald Araújo reportedly said before the match

In the days before the game, several outlets ran stories on remarks attributed to Ronald Araújo about Argentina playing without Messi. The original interview has not been reviewed for this article, and the exact wording of his comments has not been independently checked.

The framing of those stories differed. Headlines from Inside Futbol, Sportskeeda and World Soccer Talk presented his comments as Uruguay seeing an opportunity to take advantage of Messi's absence. Headlines carried by Yahoo Sports, Yardbarker and GOAL's Spanish edition presented them as a warning that Argentina remain a powerhouse despite losing the player he called the best in the world. Several of those headlines describe him as a Liverpool loanee. The terms of that arrangement have not been verified for this article.

What has not been confirmed

Ronald Araújo's minutes, any injuries from the match and post-match comments from Forlán, Scaloni or the players had not been confirmed at the time of writing. Uruguay's next fixture in this international window was also not confirmed.

For Argentina, the result means their first meeting with Uruguay after Messi's departure ended in a home defeat, with both teams using the November window to prepare for the road to the 2030 World Cup, according to beIN Sports. For Uruguay, it adds a win to Forlán's interim record ahead of the planned permanent appointment.

This article will be updated as official match data and reactions are checked.