Argentina beats Iceland with a hat-trick and Iraq falls to Venezuela
Lionel Messi led his country to a final victory before the start of the 2026 World Cup after coming on as a substitute to score his 117th international goal in the 3-0 win over Iceland, in his first encounter with a European team since the 2022 World Cup final.
In the first ten minutes, Iceland's Mikael Illersson missed a real opportunity to score the goal as he shot a powerful ball from close range over the crossbar, although it was easy to score the goal, before Valentin Barco scored the first goal for Argentina at the 8th minute, after which there was a calm on the field that soon ended when the 21-year-old passed an elaborate through ball to Nico Paz, who failed to overcome Olafsson at the near post, to ensure Argentina's superiority until the end of the half First.
At the start of the second half, Lionel Scaloni made a number of substitutions on the Argentina squad before Messi entered at the 70th minute and scored a goal from the penalty spot two minutes later, and four minutes before the end of the match, Thiago Almada added the third goal for Argentina.
Iraq loses to Venezuela
The Iraqi national team lost to Venezuela by two goals for nothing in the friendly match that brought them together at dawn today, in the US state of Chicago, as part of the preparations of the "Mesopotamian Lions" to participate in the 2026 World Cup, which starts tomorrow, Thursday, in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Iraq is scheduled to play its first match in the 2026 World Cup against Norway on June 17 , while it will face France in the second match on the 23rd, and face Senegal on the 26th of the same month, in its last matches in the group stage.
The Venezuelan national team's brace came in Iraq's net through Cristian Caceras and Jesús Ramirez in the 17th and 46th minutes of the match, which saw the expulsion of Ali Youssef, the striker of the Iraqi national team.
England worried about Bukayo Saka's condition
England are facing major concerns about their squad as coach Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Bukayo Saka is still playing with an Achilles tendon injury.
After joining the English team, the coaching staff gave Saka extra rest to relieve his physical stress, and Declan Rice, Ibirici Eze and Noni Madueke received similar treatment after their participation in the last Champions League final.
But unlike Rice, who has been confirmed to be at his best, Saka is yet to fully recover, with manager Thomas Tuchel admitting the Arsenal player was still in pain during the latter stages of last season.
The German coach said that the England coaching staff is taking great care with Saka during training, as the player has not yet been able to maintain a consistent level of training throughout the week. According to Tuchel, Arsenal have handled Saka's case very carefully, and the England national team will do the same to avoid the risk of a recurrence of the injury.
The England coach has bluntly stated that the chances of Saka being a key player in all the matches of the 2026 World Cup are not great, and this news is considered worrying for England fans, as Saka is currently one of the most important players in the team's attacking line.
Alongside Saka's story, Tuchel also spoke about Jude Bellingham's role ahead of the World Cup. The German coach believes that the media is exaggerating his expectations from the Real Madrid midfielder.
According to Tuchel, England have many world-class players such as Harry Kane, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Morgan Rodgers and Bukayo Saka, and success can only be achieved through collective strength rather than relying on a single individual.
England will play their final friendly against Costa Rica on the morning of June 11 before their opening match of the 2026 World Cup against Croatia.