At left, new mates Tim and Ali from England via Florida and I enjoy the River Plate match; at right, Timand I relished the opportunity to witness Lionel Messi’s likely final match for the national team in the Argentina.
My standard answer to anyone who asked about where I was planning to go and what I was planning to spectate on my Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project was the following:
Well, you can’t say you’re going around the world if you don’t find your way off the continent where you live.
Soccer, or futbol, seemed the natural sporting event to spectate during any trip to South America. The broader question, of course, was where and when?
As I began researching that very question, Argentina became the leader in the clubhouse. It is, after all, the defending World Cup champions and is known to be a soccer-crazed nation. It’s also home to one of the game’s all-time greats in Lionel Messi. As it turned out, CONMEBOL (aka the South American Football Confederation) would finish up its continent-wide FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying with a pair of matches in early September, one of which the Argentinian National Team would host (against Venezuela).
Could seeing Messi play for the national team in Argentina be a possibility?
This proved to be an exercise in patience as world soccer’s governing body – FIFA (as well as CONMEBOL) – seemed to be in no hurry to announce the exact dates of the matches. Were they going to be August 31 and September 4? Or September 4 and September 9? Or September 9 and September 14? All were, technically, within the first international break of the 2025-26 global club soccer season, but it made securing flights, accomodations, and – most importantly – tickets challenging.
My traveling partner on this journey, Tim (see also the Rose Bowl, Korean and Japanese baseball, and the Midnight Sun Game), and I hoped to visit both Argentina and Chile (it was due to host Uruguay) for a pair of national team matches. Alas, the uncertain timing of matches as well as the language barrier, proved problematic for us securing tickets we were certain would be legitimate.
Then, one day in mid-August almost by accident, I happened upon the website LandingPadBA (BA is short for Buenos Aires). It’s a tour company that – among other things – takes groups to soccer matches in Buenos Aires. After a fairly exhaustive vetting process, I was sold.
No such tour company was readily findable for Santiago, Chile, so Tim and I abandoned the idea of national team matches in two countries and, instead, decided an Argentine Primera Division match would provide us the added soccer fix we sought.
Jed, Hernan, and Nacho from LandingPadBA were all too happy to accept our money and ensure attendance at two uniquely different Argentinian soccer experiences. These are those stories.
River Plate vs. San Martin de San Juan
I know a bit about the English Premier League and less about America’s Major League Soccer. I can unequivocally tell you I knew nothing about the Argentine Primera Division before me, Tim, and another half-dozen folks met at El Cuartito for some pre-match beverages, empanadas, and pizza.
Clockwise from upper left, the interior of El Cuartito pizzeria is a bit of shrine to Argentine soccer, especially Diego Maradona; for those who know me, understand how challenging this slice of pizza was for me; our group of fellow tourist soccer fans; the exterior of El Cuartito in the Cento barrio of Buenos Aires.
And, loading onto our mini-bus bound for Mas Monumental (the massive home stadium of Club Atletico River Plate) where we’d see the home team take on San Martin, I’m unsure I knew much more. What I managed to glean from Hernan, our guide, is that the Primera Division has continued to expand to the point where it now features 30 clubs (15 in two Groups, A and B) and is – my words not his – bloated. We were also reminded consistently that we should wear red, white, and black (River Plate’s colors) and avoid green and black (San Martin’s colors) and, above all else, keep any blue and yellow in our suitcase because those were the colors of River’s primary Buenos Aires rival, Boca Juniors.
We also learned that only recently are opposition club spectators allowed in some stadiums. The ban, which lasted 12 years due to several violent episodes that included deaths back in 2013, was only lifted in July 2025 and is subject to host clubs having the infrastructure to support it.
And speaking of safety, Hernan also gave us the rundown on the procedure for getting into the stadium. It featured no fewer than three security checks, the final one of which would be a breeze for our gathered group who were all primarily English speakers. The police at this screening were looking for members of Argentina’s criminal element and were conducting background checks for those with Argentine IDs. (Our running joke as we were waved through as soon as we spoke English to the officer was that our collective criminal history in the States or United Kingdom was welcome in the stadium.)
Finally, we had our faces scanned to enter the stadium. That’s right, there were no tickets (paper or digital) for this match, as River utilizes facial recognition to admit spectators.
For this match, we splurged for seats closer to field level and boy did we get close. About eight rows up from near the San Martin bench, we were afforded terrific views of the stadium, the fans, and the pre-match fireworks that left a thick haze hanging over the field on his damp late winter’s night.
We also lucked out in as much as all the match’s goal scoring occurred on our end of the pitch. First, River’s Santiago Lencina scored at the 17 minute mark and then, just four minutes later, teammate Maxi Salas netted another to provide all the scoring the hosts required.
For a Sunday night match, the gathered 70,000-plus were in fine form, complete with orchestrated chanting and singing (of which neither Tim nor I fully picked up) as well as drums providing a rhythmic backdrop for it all. It was a festive night, to be sure, and one that we were told by our guide would be markedly different from our next match (should be fortunate to secure tickets).
Clockwise from upper left, River Plate teammates congratulate Maxi Salas on his goal; a River and San Martin player battle for control of the ball; River’s Juan Fernando Quintero takes a corner kick; the River Plate crest adorns the Mas Monumental; fans get in the spirit of things pre-match; and Ayrton Nicolas Portillo completes a first-half throw-in. (Photos by Doug Hill and Tim Parker)
Argentina vs. Venezuela
Believe it or not, when Tim and I walked out of Mas Monumental following River Plate’s 2-0 victory, we still did not have tickets to the Argentina-Venezuela match four nights later.
To say it was a hot ticket was an understatement.
Messi, who’s widely considered one of the best soccer players in history, was now confirmed to be playing for the Argentine side in its final home World Cup 2026 Qualifying Match. Alone, that fact drove both demand (and the price) for tickets to the match up exponentially. Messi, who turned 38 earlier in the summer, is expected to retire from the national team following next year’s World Cup, so this meant it was a final opportunity for this soccer-crazed nation to see its current favorite son in a competitive match on home soil a final time.
While the fine folks at LandingPadBA assured me they’d have a pair of tickets for us, it still meant for a worrisome couple of days. Would they, in fact, be able to secure tickets? And at what cost?
Those answers came a couple days later from Nacho when he contacted me via WhatsApp to let me know he had tickets and when and where he’d like to meet. It felt a bit like a some illicit deal as we met at one of the Palermo barrio’s many public parks and exchanged several hundred U.S. dollars for a pair of tickets.
It was the most money I’d paid to date for a ticket.
It was worth every penny.
Before we parted ways, Nacho provided Tim and I with a couple of tips:
- First, arrive early … very early … egregiously early, even! Through his years of experience with national team matches at Mas Monumental, he knew that the upper level (where we would be) is typically oversold. That is, there are more ticket holders than there are seats.
- Second, notice how different the crowd is compared to what we experienced for the River Plate match. While we’d be in the same stadium, he noted the national team match will be more of a family affair, with spectators – young and old alike – traveling from all over the country. Though Nacho didn’t say it, I equated the difference between the two matches to those of an NFL playoff game and an NFL exhibition game. The former (similar to the River Plate match) was for the hardcore fan of the club while the latter was more of an event.
In both instances, Nacho was spot on.
As our ride brought us closer to the stadium a solid two-and-a-half hours pre-match, it was evident plenty of folks were arriving early. A phalanx of buses lined virtually every road near Mas Monumental and it was, in fact, a giant party atmosphere as we walked the final half mile or so to the stadium.
To say Tim and I were a bit gobsmacked when we made our way into the stadium and saw how many fans were already inside (still about two hours pre-match) would be an apt description.
Clockwise from upper left, my version of a timelapse of Mas Monumental filling up. The first photo was upon our entrance about two hours pre-match; the next is from 90 minutes before; the third is about hour out; and the final is about 45 minutes before.
And the gathered crowd was fully engaged: Singing, chanting, and generally enjoying the party atmosphere that was evident from the moment we left our car.
To fully describe how ready this crowd was for the match is challenging. What struck me most sitting in our seats sucking down lukewarm overpriced Keurig coffees attempting to stay warm (temperatures were heading into the lower 40s) were the live helicopter views of the Argentinian team bus approaching the stadium. Beamed on the scoreboard, it seemed with every turn the bus made, the crowd cheered a bit louder and, when the bus was finally in the facility, forget about! The savy scoreboard operator then began showing players heading from the now parked bus to the locker room. When Messi’s visage flashed on the screen, the crowd went bonkers.
The fever pitch only grew until, finally, Messi appeared on the field with his Argentine teammates for warmups. Cameras seemed to know where he was at all times and as the fans chanted “Mess-ee! Mess-ee!” he gave a slight wave and seemed to need to regain his composure.
The match itself was rather anti-climactic.
Venezuela was outclassed by the hosts and Messi ensured everyone would go home happy when he scored his squad’s first goal in the 39th minute (sadly, my camera was not recording:-( and then scored a second time in the 80th minute that – for reasons still only known to the soccer gods – I was recording. Check it out here.
Like they already weren’t, but for the duration of the night all eyes were on No. 10 in the blue and white.
When the final whistle blew on Argentina’s 3-0 victory, handshakes were swapped, and Messi met with the media on the field, no one left.
No one!
It was truly one of the more remarkable things I’ve witnessed during this project … or ever! Until he walked down the tunnel and exited the view of the spectators, no one in attendance was budging from their vantage point. It was an incredible tribute to a player so beloved by his countrymen.
And totally worthwhile to experience it!
Clockwise from upper left, Nacho was correct, the upper level was oversold, note all the fans standing in the aisleway; as the sun sets fans stream in toward Mas Monumental; these youngsters were fired up for the match; I needed some Argentinian gear and a stocking cap seemed appropriate with temperatures forecast in the lower 40s; the Venezuelan section featured ample security and fencing; vendors after the match were selling their wares on the street; the finish of the match; the area surrounding the stadium was filled with pedestrians and buses post-match.
