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FIFA World Cup champions Argentina beat El Salvador 3-0 on a frigid Friday evening at Lincoln Monetary Discipline, within the stadium’s first sport after the announcement it can host six video games within the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The match was muted by the absence of Argentina’s captain, world celebrity and arguably the best participant of all time Lionel Messi, who needed to pull out from the squad after choosing up a hamstring harm. Messi’s presence, because it has since his arrival within the U.S. to play for Main League Soccer’s Inter Miami, would have most likely ensured a near-full attendance prefer it did when he confronted the Philadelphia Union in Chester final yr.
The sport drew a far-from-full attendance of round 15,000, which wasn’t an enormous shock. Components like Messi’s absence, the sport being introduced simply 4 weeks in the past after Argentina’s scheduled video games in China have been canceled, the climate being 41 levels Fahrenheit with rain within the forecast, comic Jo Koy performing throughout the road on the Wells Fargo Middle, March Insanity and the query of whether or not ticket costs most likely ought to have been nudged down a pair days in the past all most likely contributed to the low turnout.
Regardless of Messi’s absence, the world champions fielded a squad stuffed with world-class gamers, most enjoying for the largest membership groups on the earth like Manchester Metropolis, Liverpool, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Atlético de Madrid.
“For us as Philadelphia to be a number to gamers which are so ingrained in soccer worldwide is superior,” Meg Kane, host metropolis government of Philadelphia Soccer 2026, mentioned earlier than the sport. “As well as, in fact, Argentina is the reigning World Cup champion.”
“I believe, for all of us, we’re actually excited to have the ability to draw that sort of elite expertise to Lincoln Monetary Discipline,” she mentioned.