Lionel Messi's Argentina confirm India trip, share details of Kerala tour in November

It is now official that Argentina will visit Kerala this November for a friendly match. The Argentina Football Association (AFA) confirmed on Friday, August 22 that Lionel Scaloni’s world champion team will play two friendlies later this year, one in the United States in October and another in Angola and India in November.

The AFA issued a statement on their official website, confirming that the Indian match will be played in Kerala. It will take place at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. However, there is still no confirmation whether Lionel Messi will travel with the squad.

“The Argentine national team, led by Lionel Scaloni, will have two FIFA friendlies in the remainder of 2025. The first, in October, from the 6th to the 14th, will be played in the United States (opponents and cities to be determined). The second, a FIFA friendlies in November, from the 10th to the 18th, will be played in Luanda, Angola, and Kerala, India (opponents to be determined),” the statement read.

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AFA confirms India trip after initial confusion

Earlier, there was a lot of confusion regarding Argentina’s trip to India due to disagreements between the Kerala government, event sponsors, and officials from the AFA, which raised doubts over whether the friendly would actually take place.

Kerala’s Sports Minister V Abdurahiman had said that the team would not visit while the sponsors threatened legal action against AFA. However, it now appears that everything has been sorted with Argentina all set to play in India later this year.

This will be Argentina’s second visit to India after 2011, when they played a friendly against Venezuela at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata with Lionel Messi also in the side. However, it is still uncertain whether the Inter Miami star will be part of the squad this time.

Earlier this month, reports suggested that Messi would come to India on a personal tour, covering four cities - Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Ahmedabad.