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This week Sam, Andrés, Chris and English Dan look back on Argentina's farewell to Lionel Messi, as he scored his 126th goal in his 208th – and last – match for the national team in a 3–0 win over Benin. What signs has this international break given us for the future of the national team? Why are the AFA so bad at organising things? And what happened last weekend in the top flight?

Sam, English Dan, Chris, Santi B and Andrés met this week to discuss the movers and shakers in the group stage of the 2026 Torneo Clausura group stage, because most of the way in it's now finally worth discussing who might and might not make the cut for the next stage. Elsewhere, Estudiantes de La Plata are through to the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores, and off the pitch River Plate have returned to executive committee meetings at the AFA, where they have some proposals that sound eminently sensible (and, as a result, absolutely will not be accepted).

This week Sam, Chris, Andrés and English Dan do something Dan would rather not do, and discuss Racing's recent form. The group stage standings are starting to look meaningful now, and while they're not mathematically out of it, it seems unlikely Racing will be involved in the knockout stage. We also have a look at the Copa Sudamericana and Copa Libertadores quarterfinals, which have concluded since we recorded with Estudiantes reaching the semis, where they'll face Flamengo. If you enjoy the pod and would like more, you can get extra episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/handofpod

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris and Andrés discuss a second win in a row for Leonardo Ponzio's River Plate, an entertaining draw between Gimnasia de Mendoza and Boca Juniors and defeat for Racing at home to Atlético Tucumán. We also cover the correct ways to refer to Atlético Tucumán and Independiente Rivadavia (de Mendoza) and have a look at some of the continental games and Copa Argentina action this week and more besides.

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris, Santi B and Santi S discuss a piece of news that in normal circumstances would be the biggest of our week – Eduardo Coudet's sacking as River Plate manager – before turning our attention to the main event: Lionel Messi's retirement from the Argentina national team after 207 matches, 125 goals, two Copas América and that glorious 2022 World Cup.

This week's episode was recorded on Wednesday, before Eduardo Coudet was sacked as River Plate manager the day after they went out of the Copa Sudamericana. Sam, English Dan and Santi B review last weekend's action, which included River throwing away a 2–0 lead to draw at home to Vélez Sarsfield in what turned out to be Coudet's penultimate match. We also hear from Santi about what's going wrong at Independiente this time.

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris and Andrés review last weekend's Liga Profesional action, which saw River Plate finally win a match – 2–0 against in-form Argentinos Juniors, no less. Boca Juniors cruised through their Copa Sudamericana tie and Argentine champions Belgrano got a good win over Independiente Rivadavia. All this and much more right here!

This week Sam, Andrés, Chris and English Dan look at yet another defeat for River Plate, whose boss Eduardo Coudet is under a lot of pressure now. This weekend River play Argentinos Juniors, and that doesn't look good for Coudet because Argentinos are in fine form. Huracán beat San Lorenzo in the clásico, and the knockout stages of the Copas Sudamericana and Libertadores are well underway.

The Torneo Clausura 2026 is well underway and this week Sam, English Dan, Chris and Andrés meet to ask what on earth is going on at River Plate, who've lost five (competitive) games in a row for the first time since 1911(!) thanks in part to a sporting director who's also being blamed for the current mess at Olympique Marseille. They're not the only team in the top flight, though, so we also round up the main takeaways from the first three rounds of action.

This week Sam, Chris, Andrés and Santi B look back on the 2026 World Cup final, and the tournament as a whole. Just what were Argentina trying to do on Sunday, and why didn't it work? Why did they struggle to get going all through the tournament? And as the nation looks to the next chapter for the national team, what changes are around the corner for Lionel Scaloni, Lionel Messi and the rest?

Argentina are in another World Cup final, and here Sam, Chris, Andrés and special guest Rob Adcock review their semifinal win over England and preview Sunday's final against Spain in Not New York.

Saturday saw Argentina beat Switzerland and England beat Norway to set up a potential World Cup semifinal for the ages. Sam, Chris, Andrés and Santi B review the nervy extra time victory over Switzerland and preview Argentina v England.

This week Sam, Chris, Andrés and Julián sit down to attempt to analyse Argentina's advancement to the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup, which came courtesy of an impossibly nervy 3–2 win over Cape Verde that was followed by a 3–2 win over Egypt that somehow managed to be even more impossibly nervy.

We're back! Sam, Chris, Andrés and Santi S review Argentina's near-perfect start to their attempt to defend the World Cup title, after they got nine points from three matches and conceded just once in group J. We ask whether Lionel Messi is any good at football (he might be), look at the defence and midfield and run the rule over the other CONMEBOL representatives.

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris, Andrés and Santi B discuss a clásico mendocino that didn't go as expected for the first twenty seconds, but went very much to form thereafter as Independiente Rivadavia ran out 5–1 winners over Gimnasia de Mendoza. Boca Juniors also got a four-goal winning margin, while Riestra and River Plate both won by a couple. The playoff qualifiers aren't quite decided as we go into the last weekend of group stage action, but this is the final episode of the Torneo Apertura for us, because Sam's mate didn't consult Sam before deciding when to get married. We'll be back when the World Cup is underway ... unless you'd like to join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/handofpod