Lionel Messi made his return to the Argentina national team on Thursday after that brief international 'retirement,' and it's safe to say it looks like he made the right choice. The superstar dazzled on the night, scoring the winning goal as Argentina beat Uruguay 1-0 in their World Cup qualifying match in Mendoza.

A goal late in the first half from the Barcelona man proved to be enough, as the hosts held on despite playing the entire second half with 10 men after Paulo Dybala's red card.

Messi finally got Argentina on the board 42 minutes in to send the crowd into a frenzy. After taking a nice touch to settle the ball at the top of the box, he shifted around and got an effort towards the goal that hit off Jose Gimenez and found the back of the net.

Riding high, that momentum quickly departed as Dybala was shown his second yellow card for a tackle, and it set up nicely for Uruguay to take advantage with the extra man to draw level.

But with that man advantage for the entire second half, Uruguay failed to really test Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero aside from a few powerful shots from way out that lacked accuracy. Superstar Luis Suarez was left frustrated as the visitors' midfield couldn't produce quality chances for the strikers while Argentina held on with an inspired and tricky Messi leading the way.

With the win, Argentina jumps to the top of qualifying in CONMEBOL with 14 points. Uruguay is second with 13.

Relive the match with our live blog below.

LIVE BLOG

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