Football: the Argentina-Nigeria match will ultimately not take place

Lionel Messi's Argentina will face Costa Rica rather than Nigeria in a gala match on March 26 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the latest change for a match that changed venue and opponent.

The world champions were initially scheduled to face Nigeria in Hangzhou and Ivory Coast in Beijing during a tour of China from March 18-26. This tour was canceled after Lionel Messi 's absence from Inter Miami's pre-season match in Hong Kong.

Last week, Argentina announced matches against El Salvador on March 22 at Lincoln Field in Philadelphia and against Nigeria four days later in Los Angeles. The Argentine Football Federation said on Tuesday that the latest change was due to administrative issues regarding visas .