Argentina lost to Uruguay for the first time since Lionel Messi retired from international football more than a month ago.
Despite controlling possession for most of the game, La Selección couldn’t turn their chances into goals in the friendly match held on November 13, in stark contrast to La Celeste, who capitalized on an own goal from the Argentinian side to build momentum against the home team at Estadio Alberto José Armando in Buenos Aires, also known as La Bombonera.
Uruguay eventually won 2-1, but that wasn’t the only thing Argentina had to worry about.
Despite the stadium boasting a capacity to host 57000 – 58300 spectators and more, less than 20000 spectators came up to attend the match, let alone cheer the hosts.
But why was La Bombonera so empty? Was it solely because Messi was no longer present to entertain the home crowd? Or was it due to something else?
One user couldn’t believe his eyes at the low turnout, explaining the impact of Messi’s absence from Team Argentina as he wrote on his timeline,
“UNBELIEVABLE!!! MESSI’S DEPARTURE IS ALREADY HAVING AN IMPACT ON THE ARGENTINE NATIONAL TEAM!! 😳🤯🤯 The Bombonera stadium is almost EMPTY for Argentina’s match against Uruguay tonight. This is Argentina’s first match since Messi’s retirement.”
🚨🚨 INCROYABLE !!! LE DÉPART DE LÉO MESSI FAIT EFFET DÉJÀ SUR LA SÉLECTION D’ARGENTINE !! 😳🤯🤯 Le stade Bombonera quasi VIDE pour le match de la sélection Argentine face à Uruguay cet nuit. C’est le premier match des Argentins après la retraite de Messi. https://t.co/Q4O6ucl7F5
— FAN INTER-MESSI (@FANFOOTMESSI) November 14, 2026
Another user echoed similar sentiments as he wrote in another post,
“How many people must be at La Bombonera? 5,000? It must be the national team’s worst turnout in many, many years. The Messi era is over…” [Translated from Spanish]
One user wondered if the expensive tickets were one of the reasons behind it. The user wrote in his X post,
“I still can’t believe they didn’t lower the prices a few days earlier. This heartbreaking scene was bound to happen.”
Todavía no puedo creer que no hayan bajado los precios unos días antes. Se veía venir esta imagen tristísima
— Palito (@xmilianx_) November 13, 2026
In case you are not aware, average ticket prices for the friendly match between Argentina and Uruguay ranged from 95,000 to 290,000 Argentine Pesos for a single person! One user explained the futility behind expecting bigger crowds with costlier tickets, especially when Messi is no longer a part of Argentina’s team, as he wrote,
“They used to pay crazy prices to see Messi because it was the only chance to see him in the country. Now, if they don’t lower ticket prices, they’ll always be stuck with empty seats.”
Although one user couldn’t convince others with his logic, he maintained that families don’t like coming to La Bombonera as much as they go to El Monumental. He explained in his X post,
“Families don’t like going to La Bombonera. The national team brings families, and families go to El Monumental. That’s why it’s always full.”
Another user immediately hit back as he wrote,
“Where did you get that? Even at El Monumental, it didn’t sell out until 2018. Then, after the pandemic, with the national team as champions, it always sold out everywhere.”
After facing defeat against Uruguay, Argentina will be facing Costa Rica in their next friendly match on November 18. The match will be held at Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in Cordoba, Argentina, where the management will be hopeful of a better result, as well as a better crowd, provided the ticket prices are not too high.
