Argentina established supremacy and threatened Eloy Room's goal straight after the first whistle, and a spectacular individual sequence from Messi set up what should've been an easy goal from Lautaro Martinez, but the Inter Milan striker failed to score into an open goal. Messi and Martinez had two more chances in the opening 15 minutes, but Room was magnificent to deny them, although it was a matter of time to see La Abiceleste getting on top since their intense pressing dismantled Curaçao's defensive line.
Under those conditions, it wasn't surprising to see the hosts break the deadlock midway through the first half. And who else but Messi to open things up? Just as he's done it plenty of times, he scored his 100th goal at country level with a composed from inside the box. Argentina doubled their lead a few minutes later via Nicholas Gonzalez, who took advantage of a rebound to nod the ball into an empty net. Messi doubled his tally with a left-footed finish out of Room's reach and later completed his hat-trick, whilst he also set up an Enzo Fernandez strike sandwiched between both goals to make it 5-0 at HT.
Argentina made a few early subs to begin the second half, and the tempo of the game was slower overall, which allowed Curaçao to settle properly in the pitch. That said, the Argentines kept creating chances and could've added a sixth goal via Martinez, but he once again missed badly from a promising position. El Toro left the pitch in the 65th minute and was replaced by Pablo Dybala, with his lack of goals being the lone sour note of what was a feisty evening for Argentina.
Angel Di Maria added a sixth goal from the penalty spot in the 78th minute and Gonzalo Montiel made it 7-0 in the 87th minute, with a composed finish, giving Argentina the biggest win since Lionel Scaloni took over as manager in 2019.
