Without Lionel Messi, Argentina’s other stars reminded fans why they’re World Cup champions

A lot of famous soccer teams have graced the grass at Lincoln Financial Field by now, enough that local fans might choose to buy tickets only for the ones they care about.

But those who chose to show up Friday night saw a sight the city has never seen: a reigning men’s World Cup champion in town. Yes, that was Argentina, in its famous blue-and-white stripes, even if Lionel Messi wasn’t among the players.

The rest of the nation’s stars put on a show in a 3-0 win over El Salvador, before a disappointingly small crowd of around 15,000 that was split pretty evenly between the two fan bases.

At least they enjoyed themselves, especially Argentina’s supporters — a local branch of the most passionate fan base for any men’s national team. From before kickoff until well after, the south end zone stands were full of flags, scarves, balloons, and anything else that made sense to wave in the air. A drum corps in the front row led the singing of the “Muchachos” anthem that echoed through the 2022 title run.

Cristian Romero opened the scoring with a big header off a corner kick 16 minutes in. All Ángel Di María had to do was serve the ball well, which he did, and Romero got up for soccer’s equivalent of a slam dunk.

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There was plenty of pretty soccer, too, in a first half where Argentina had 11 shots to El Salvador’s one and 450 completed passes to 92. It culminated in Enzo Fernández’s goal, where the midfielder had the second of the six-pass buildup and the doorstep finish.

The DJ on the public address played the official version of “Muchachos” as the teams left the field, and the crowd enjoyed itself again.

El Salvador’s outmatched defense battled valiantly and prevented a few chances that looked destined for the goal. But it was one-way traffic, and everyone knew it.

Giovani Lo Celso capped off the scoring in a dazzling combination with Lautaro Martínez, usually a lethal finisher but this time a provider. Fernández fed Martínez, he played a first-touch flick forward, then Lo Celso raced forward to shoot home with the outside of his left foot.

It’s obviously too bad that Messi wasn’t here because of a hamstring strain. He didn’t even come to town to visit his friends, instead staying at Miami Inter to rehab.

Had he been here, it would have been the best chance for the city to see him play on the biggest local sports stage, both for prestige and seating capacity.

He won’t visit the Union when Miami comes to town in June for its regular-season game, which means it will take a second straight year of the two clubs reaching the Leagues Cup semifinals for fans to get lucky again.

Such is life sometimes. At least fans can say the injury was bad luck. The exorbitant ticket prices, starting at $75 plus endless fees for just the cheapest seats, were more intentional — and undoubtedly a big reason why the crowd was so low.

But Argentina did come to town, as anyone who saw the hubbub outside their Broad Street hotel in recent days may have noticed. And all those other world champions on the squad did look the part.

“We don’t lack for players for the Copa América, no doubt” manager Lionel Scaloni said afterward, knowing that Argentina is the favorite in the big, summer showcase that will be hosted in the U.S. “It will be a very nice problem to put together that roster.”

If only we could all have such problems.