Bolivia’s 6-1 win ranks among Messi’s biggest humiliations with Argentina

Lionel Messi’s record in Bolivia contains one of the heaviest defeats of his Argentina career. On April 1, 2009, Argentina lost 6-1 to Bolivia at La Paz’s Hernando Siles stadium in a World Cup qualifying match.

Messi returned to the same stadium four years later, on March 26, 2013. That match ended in a 1-1 draw. His third and final appearance in Bolivia came on Oct. 13, 2020, when Argentina won 2-1 and secured its first victory in La Paz with Messi on the field.

He could have played five matches in Bolivia, but missed two. He was suspended for Argentina’s visit during qualifying for the 2018 World Cup after an incident with an assistant referee in the previous match against Chile. In September 2023, he sat out the qualifying match against Bolivia after experiencing muscular fatigue following his commitments with Inter Miami. Lionel Scaloni chose to rest him.

Across all competitions, Messi played Bolivia 12 times. Six matches took place in Argentina, including four in Buenos Aires, one in La Plata and one in Córdoba. He also faced Bolivia in Houston and Seattle in the United States, and in Cuiabá, Brazil.

Argentina leads the overall record with eight victories, three draws and one defeat. Messi scored 11 goals against Bolivia, including two hat tricks in 2021 and 2024 World Cup qualifiers. That total makes him the leading scorer against Bolivia in the history of the fixture. Bolivia also went unbeaten against Argentina in four consecutive matches with Messi playing, including two in La Paz.