Enzo and Caicedo were both deployed in three-man midfields and the contest in Buenos Aires, which took place in the early hours of Friday morning UK time, was a hard-fought one. There were 22 fouls overall as the Ecuadorians frustrated Argentina, who dominated possession and the shot count, but struggled to find a way through.

Lautaro Martinez and Nicolas Tagliafico both struck the woodwork for the hosts, while Ecuador, happy to operate on the break, went closest through Kevin Rodriguez’s mishit shot.

However, with 12 minutes remaining, Argentina broke the deadlock, and it was that man Lionel Messi who curled an exquisite free-kick into the top corner for his 104th international goal.

Next up for Enzo and Argentina is a trip to Bolivia on Tuesday. Ecuador host Uruguay on the same night.

Malo Gusto and Lesley Ugochukwu played over an hour as France’s Under-21 side began life under Thierry Henry with a convincing 4-1 friendly win against Denmark.

The Chelsea duo started in Nancy, with Gusto at right-back and Ugochukwu the sitting midfielder in a three.

France survived a couple of early scares but soon established their dominance, taking a 23rd-minute lead through Johann Lepenant. Lyon’s Rayan Cherki doubled that advantage before the break.

Gusto and Ugochukwu were withdrawn on 64 minutes. France went 3-0 up soon after and though Denmark got one back, Les Espoirs wrapped up the win in stoppage time. France’s European Championship qualifying campaign begins on Monday with a home game against Slovenia.

Andrey Santos captained Brazil Under-23s in the first of two friendlies against Morocco serving as preparation for next summer’s Olympic Games. In a game paused for over 20 minutes because of floodlight failure in Fez, Morocco scored the only goal late on. The teams reconvene on Monday.

Lucas Bergstrom played the first half for Finland Under-21s in a friendly against Iceland in Turku. The keeper, who has been on the bench for us this season, made a couple of good saves to keep the game goalless until half-time. The entire Finnish team was substituted at that stage and the goals came thick and fast after the break, with Iceland eventually winning 3-2.

England Under-18s started the Tournoi tournament with defeat to host nation France in which six Blues featured. Travis Akomeah, Ishe Samuels-Smith and Michael Golding all started, with Jimmy-Jay Morgan, Tyrique George and Harrison Murray-Campbell introduced off the bench during the second half.

At Under-17 level, Shumaira Mheuka scored in the first minute of England’s 3-2 loss to Portugal in a friendly in Spain. Our striker controlled well and finished coolly underneath the goalkeeper, but England let a 2-0 lead slip to trail heading into the last minute of injury time, when Mheuka showed great feet to escape three defenders but shot just wide.