Passport details for the entire Argentina team involved in a pre-World Cup friendly were accidentally leaked in an embarrassing security blunder just days before football’s summer showpiece kicks off.
Occasionally team sheets, issued by teams to match officials a little over an hour before kick-off, include passport numbers, but these are normally blurred out before being released to the media.
Not so when Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina faced Iceland on Tuesday, when the likes of Lionel Messi, Lisandro Martinez and Enzo Fernandez all had their passport numbers exposed in the official team sheet – which was then reproduced by several local media organisations.
The entire starting 11 and substitutes for the game, held in front of 88,000 fans at the Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama, had their details leaked.
Iceland did not submit passport numbers in their team sheet so avoided the same fate.
The game was organised by Road to ‘26, a company sponsored by Turkish Airlines who have organised several other warm-up games before the World Cup officially begins on Thursday.
Messi scored immediately after coming off the bench in the 70th minute, winning and converting a penalty, as Argentina – among the favourites to defend their 2022 title – beat Iceland 3-0.
The 38-year-old also played a role in the team’s third goal with his pass to Rodrigo de Paul, who provided the assist for Thiago Almada. Valentin Barco scored the opener.
Messi had picked up a hamstring injury just over a fortnight before the start of the tournament when playing for Inter Miami, but recovered in time to make a substitute appearance and looked in good shape on the eve of the World Cup proper.
He said: “I’m happy, enjoying every moment, and excited as always. I felt really good; I wanted to get going and shake off the lingering fears that come with an injury — to be able to play freely. We have a week left to get everyone in top shape and be ready for the opener.”
While the tournament begins on Thursday 11 June Argentina do not play until Wednesday 17, when they face Algeria in their first Group J game in Kansas City.
