Lionel Messi and his Argentina team-mates were involved in a bizarre data breach before a pre-World Cup friendly that saw their passport details accidentally leaked.
Lionel Scaloni’s side beat Iceland 3-0 in Alabama in the early hours of Wednesday morning (GMT) in front of 88,000 fans.
When countries submit team sheets ahead of kick off, these sometimes include passport numbers of their players, although that private information is normally blurred out or deleted before being shared to the media.
However, Argentina’s team sheet – which included Messi, Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez and Man United’s Lisandro Martinez – was released with their passport numbers still on there, and this was reproduced by several local media outlets.
This damaging security leak therefore exposed the details for the entire Argentina starting XI and substitutes.
The error appeared to be the responsibility of Road to ’26, the Turkish Airlines-sponsored company who were in charge of organising the friendly. They have arranged multiple other pre-tournament games in the USA too.
Lionel Messi and his Argentina team-mates were involved in a bizarre data breach before a pre-World Cup friendly that saw their passport details accidentally leaked
Iceland didn’t include the passport numbers of their players on their team sheet, so they managed to avoid a similar leak.
During the match, Messi scored a penalty shortly after coming off the bench in the 70th minute.
Valentin Barco earlier put Scaloni’s side ahead in the first half, before Thiago Almada then made it 3-0 late on.
Speaking after the game, Messi – who had picked up a hamstring injury last month when playing for Inter Miami – provided an update on his own fitness and hopes for Argentina this summer.
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‘I’m happy, enjoying every moment, and excited as always,’ he said. ‘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.’
Messi played a huge role in Argentina’s World Cup triumph in 2022 and they have also won the last two Copa America titles.
This time around the reigning champions face Algeria, Jordan and Austria in their group, with their first game coming next Wednesday against the North African side.
