Will Lionel Messi's Argentina play tonight vs Australia in Kochi, India?

La Albiceleste comfortably qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The Argentina national football team were supposed to play a friendly game in India today. But due to several situation, it did not go as planned.

Recently, it was confirmed that fans in India will have to wait for more time before they get to witness the World Champions. La Albiceleste were set to face the Australia national football team for an international friendly outing in Kochi.

After qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026 early, the Lionel Scaloni-led side have a lot of time to practice their new tactics and strategies so that they can continue their consistent run of form going into the mega competition.

Lionel Messi and Argentina visited India back in 2011 when they faced Venezuela in an international friendly matchup. They are set to arrive in India once again, but the visit will be delayed further.

There has been an issue in receiving permission from FIFA, and after extensive talks with the Argentina Football Association (AFA), the interesting friendly outing is pushed to the next International break window.

Will Argentina face Australia in a friendly at Kochi today?

Argentina were supposed to play two friendly matches from November 10 to 18 in Angola and India against unspecified opponents, as mentioned by Kerala’s Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman via social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

Just a month later, Anto Augustine, the event sponsor, came up with a statement on Facebook that there would not be an international friendly between Australia and Argentina at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on November 17, 2025.

The match between these teams was set to take place, but unfortunately is not taking place today. The approval from FIFA was delayed, which directly suggests that the international friendly will not take place as soon as one had hoped.

Anto Augustine mentioned on Facebook that, “Considering the delay in receiving FIFA’s permission, after discussions with the Argentine Football Association (AFA), it has been decided to postpone the match from the November window.”

Moreover, the conditions at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi were analysed by the officials from AFA (Argentine Football Association). This interesting fixture between Argentina and Australia is likely to be in motion during the next international window.

Leo Messi and company recently went head-to-head against Angola in a friendly. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner put up a strong performance and helped Argentina secure a 2-0 win.

A sea of fans gathered outside the stadium in Angola to have a glance at the Argentine great Lionel Messi. Looking at such a situation, we can only expect the things to go grander when he comes to India.

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