Argentina vs Benin 3-0

Argentina beat Benin 3-0 at El Monumental, and the result was settled after the break. N. Otamendi opened the scoring, N. Paz added a second soon after coming on, and L. Messi made sure of it from the penalty spot.

The first half brought no goals, though Otamendi was booked in the 44th minute before the sides went in level at 0-0.

Argentina broke through in the 48th minute when Otamendi scored from Messi’s assist for 1-0. Two minutes after the restart Argentina made two changes, with L. Martinez replacing Otamendi and F. Medina coming on for N. Tagliafico, then N. Paz and N. Gonzalez arrived in the 59th and 60th minutes. Paz, who came on in the 59th minute, scored in the 61st from another Messi assist to make it 2-0. Benin made two changes on 64 minutes and two more on 75, while Argentina’s next control point came in the 71st minute when Messi converted a penalty to seal the win at 3-0. Argentina then made four more changes across the 79th and 80th minutes, and Benin used three late changes in the 90+1st minute.

Argentina had 67% of the ball and 219 passes at 91% accuracy, against Benin’s 33% and 104 passes at 82%. The hosts also had the edge in shots, 5-4, and shots on target, 3-0. Benin’s goalkeeper made 3 saves, while Argentina had 2 corners to 1 and 2 fouls to 3.

Otamendi was booked for Argentina in the 44th minute and M. Tijani was booked for Benin in the 55th minute.