Friendly match preview: Angola's FIFA ranking has risen sharply, Argentina intends to train its troops

At 0:00 on the night of November 15th, Beijing time, in an international football friendly match, the African powerhouse Angola will play a friendly match against world champion Argentina at the November 11th Stadium in the capital, Luanda. This is one of the activities in Angola to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the country's independence. It is reported that the Angolan government spent more than 10 million US dollars on this competition.

Angola currently ranks 89th in the world, and Argentina ranks second in the world. Despite the huge difference in ranking between the two teams, the progress made by the Angola national team in the past two years is obvious to all. Although Angola ranked fourth in Group D of the African qualifying rounds of the 2026 World Cup, they drew twice with the powerful Cameroon in the group stage, and the result of the competition with Cape Verde, the group leader, was 1 draw and 1 loss. If there were not too many draws, Angola would have a chance to squeeze out Cameroon's play-off qualification.

The friendly match against Angola is the last game for the Argentine national team in 2025. Of course, they hope to put a perfect end to this year's travels with a decent victory. The purpose of the Angola national team is more diverse. Although it failed to achieve good results in the World Cup qualifying rounds, the African Cup that will start next month will provide Angola with an opportunity to re-display its strength. Against Argentina, it can not only find the gap between itself and the world's top teams, but also take the opportunity to knock down some players.

Even if it is just a friendly match, Argentina national team coach Scaloni does not intend to muddle along. For this reason, he has recruited not only pillars such as Messi, but also new players such as Paz, Pannicelli, Perrone and other new players for the national team in this period. Of course, powerful players such as Alvarez, Enzo, McAllister, and Lautaro are still included. However, Alvarez, Simeone, and Molina had to withdraw from the current national team because they failed to meet the fitness requirements for entry.

At present, the Argentine national team has successfully arrived in Angola and has begun daily training. According to the Argentine media "Tyc Sports", Messi will appear in the game as a starter, and many players who have been selected for the national team for the first time will also appear one after another to undergo Scaloni's evaluation.