A goal and assist for Lautaro with Argentina against Honduras

Lautaro Martínez’s World Cup preparations could hardly have started in better fashion. Il Toro captain played a starring role with a goal and an assist as Argentina defeated Honduras 2-0 in their first friendly ahead of the global tournament.

The Nerazzurri captain opened the scoring in the 37th minute, converting a penalty awarded after a VAR review for a foul by Meléndez on Tagliafico. Lautaro fired a powerful right-footed effort past the goalkeeper to register his 37th goal in 76 appearances for La Albiceleste. In the second half, Il Toro turned provider, producing a superb backheel assist for Giuliano Simeone to score Argentina’s second before making way in the 63rd minute.

Argentina will return to action on Wednesday 10 June at 02:30 CEST against Iceland in their final warm-up match before kicking off their World Cup campaign.

Hakan Çalhanoğlu also continued his preparations for the World Cup, featuring in the final 20 minutes of Turkey's 2-1 friendly victory over Venezuela in their last warm-up match before the tournament.

The Nerazzurri midfielder added more minutes to his legs after his brief appearance against North Macedonia. Head coach Montella introduced him in the 71st minute in place of Kökçü, with Turkey successfully seeing out a 2-1 lead built through goals from Yılmaz in the 44th minute and Akgün in the 54th.

Drawn in Group D alongside the United States, Paraguay and Australia, Turkey will begin their World Cup campaign against Australia in Vancouver on Sunday 14 June, with kick-off scheduled for 06:00 CEST.