October 5: South American giants Brazil and Argentina defeat India and Burkina Faso in troubled friendlies.
The 2026 World Cup runners-up scored seven goals in a 7-0 rout of a makeshift Burkina Faso after several first-team players refused to travel. The African delegation arrived a few hours before the start in Buenos Aires after the cancellation of their charter flight. Match organizers said several senior Burkina Faso players refused to travel, citing fatigue. This meant that a young Burkina Faso team took to the field and made a mistake.
Lautaro Martínez, Gianluca Prestianni, Nicolás Paz, Julian Álvarez, Franco Mastantuono and Giuliano Simeone were on the scoreboard for the hosts. Moumoune Diallo scored an own goal.
“I would like to sincerely thank those who have come from Burkina Faso,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni told a press conference.
“I don’t know what problems the others have had, but those who have come, we appreciate the effort they have made, they dignify football, and we tried to play the game as if it were a final, because it is the only way to respect these boys.
“We are very grateful that they were able to come because they put in the effort; they could have stayed and the game could have been cancelled.”
Brazil, who were eliminated by Norway in the round of 16 of the World Cup, took part in a farcical friendly. They defeated India, ranked 138th in the world, 4-0 in Kolkata in a match that resembled nothing more than a practice session.
India’s goalkeeper and captain Gurpreet Singh made two mistakes and his substitute Prabhsukhan Singh Gill also dropped a ball after the break for substitute Samuel Lino’s opener.
Large swathes of the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata remained empty despite an official attendance of 51,000. About 40,000 passes have been given out free of charge. The Indian FA (AIFF) paid over $3 million to bring the Brazilians to West Bengal. They also paid a hefty match fee for their upcoming friendly in Uruguay.
However, AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey clarified that the money to the teams will not be paid from the coffers of the Federation and hence will not come under the AIFF Finance Committee. It is not clear what this means in practice.
The organization of the friendlies had previously been criticized, not only because of the financial expense, but also because the matches deprived India of a chance to participate in the Asean Cup. On Sunday, a day after the friendly, the federation announced that elections will be held in December.
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