Venezuela pulled off a fantastic result in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying with a 1-1 draw vs. Argentina on Thursday. During a pause in the game for an injury there was a small skirmish between Lionel Messi and Venezuela’s Yeferson Soteldo.
When we say “small skirmish” we’re not talking about the heights of the players as Soteldo stands at 5 feet 3 inches tall and Messi is 5 feet 7 inches.
In true CONMEBOL fashion tensions were high during the game and Messi could be seen exchanging words with Soteldo. The 27-year-old Venezuelan didn’t appreciate Messi putting a hand on his head and slapped the Argentine’s arm away.
Messi Venezuela fight
“Fight” is a strong word as the encounter was more of standoff in the 93rd minute.
The field conditions in Maturín, Venezuela, might’ve played into the high tensions as a rain-soaked pitch made for a slog of a game. Messi said after the game that Thursday’s conditions were unacceptable.
“We tied because the field didn’t help us do what we wanted, we had to do another game than the one prepared for. But we were prepared because we fought, won the battles, played with the error of the rival,” Messi continued. “We couldn’t risk much by playing with passes to the back. In the first half we made a couple passes to the back and the water would stop it, and complicated it. We did the game we could with the water,” Messi said to TyC Sports.
Argentina still remain top of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers table despite the 1-1 draw. Teams have reached the halfway point of qualifying, and Argentina have 19 points from nine games with Colombia in second with 16 points.
The top six nations will automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The team that finished seventh will compete in an inter-confedertation playoff.