Footage emerges of rare Lionel Messi headloss after squaring up to Venezuela players in Argentina draw

Lionel Messi’s Argentina only managed to draw 1-1 with Venezuela in their 2026 World Cup qualifier and he was caught on camera clashing with the opposition players.

It was Messi’s first game back for Argentina after suffering an ankle injury during the Copa America

Final back in July.

Kick off was delayed by over 30 minutes as stadium workers aimed tirelessly to remove surface water from the pitch in Maturin but eventually the game started in the terrible conditions which greatly impacted proceedings.

Nicolas Otamendi opened the scoring in the 13th minute before Salomon Rondon equalised in the second half with the drenched pitch impacting the final 45 minutes severely.

Messi is usually calm and collected on the pitch but footage captured by fans shows the Inter Miami star losing his head in a rare angry incident.

The 37-year-old was pictured arguing with multiple Venezuela players including Gremio star Yeferson Soteldo while an opposition player received treatment, getting in the face of various stars during the heated exchange.

It’s currently unclear as to why Messi was so upset but the legendary forward did blame the state of the pitch for Argentina’s draw.

Lionel Messi discutiendo con Soteldo mientras atendían al jugador venezolano jajajajaja #VenezuelaVsArgentina pic.twitter.com/EhXxZF9JiL

— JDavid (@JxseDxvid) October 11, 2024

He told TyC Sports after the game: “It was very difficult, it makes for very ugly matches.

“We could not complete two passes in a row. In the second half, we did it on the right a little more, but it is difficult to play like that. Very little is played.”

Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni also hit out at the conditions and claimed the match should have been postponed.

He added: "It [the pitch] did not meet the minimal conditions for a football game. You couldn't play.

"We did what we had to do, but the conditions of the playing field were not for a match against two teams of this kind of level."

Argentina have now gone two games without a win against losing to Colombia in their final fixture during the last international break and will look to get back to winning ways against Bolivia on Tuesday.