Kochi, 23 August

Putting speculations to rest, reigning world champions Argentina have announced that they will play a FIFA friendly against an unnamed opponent in Kerala in November this year.

The match will take place between 10 and 18 November, and it could happen in Kochi or Thiruvananthapuram.

"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 Argentine football association wrote on its official X handle.

"The second, 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.

Kerala Sports Minister V Adburahiman later confirmed the development, saying the World Cup holders, including skipper Lionel Messi, will come to the state in November.

"The Argentinian national football team has announced that the team will play in Kerala in November during the FIFA window. The team which won the World Cup under Lionel Messi, the whole squad, will play here.

"We thank the Argentina Football Association for this. It's a truly historical moment for Kerala football and the entire sports sector," Adburahiman said in a statement.

However, the statement of AFA did not have any mention of Messi or the details of the national squad.

It may be recalled that the Argentine football association had also thanked their supporters from Kerala after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup, beating France in penalties.

Earlier, Argentina's visit to the state was in doubt after the country's football association did not confirm the tour and it had put the blame on the Kerala government officials for the failure to ink a contract.

The move to bring Messi-led Argentina to Kerala gained steam in September 2024 when Adburahiman travelled to Spain to meet officials of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to work out the details.

But Leandro Petersen, Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer of the AFA mentioned on 8 August that the world champions' visit to Kerala was not confirmed.

But Adburahiman downplayed the remarks of Petersen saying Argentina's visit to Kerala would happen.

"Petersen is an important official of the AFA, but only in marketing. The agreement was signed by the AFA president (Claudio Tapia)," he said.

But Adburahiman's visit to Spain, which incurred Rs 13.04 lakh to the state exchequer, had sparked some controversy, but the minister defended his trip saying the state has tie-ups on sporting front with many nations such as Spain, Australia and Cuba.

"The Central government has agreed to our sports policy. The visits included several officials, not just the sports minister. The 13 lakh covers expenses for the entire team," he had said.

Argentina's previous visit to India was in 2011 when they faced Venezuela at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata, which the former won 1-0.