Lionel Messi was banned from Argentina’s World Cup qualifying defeat at Bolivia, with Fifa announcing the news less than six hours before kick-off.

The Albiceleste faced a crunch game in La Paz, which had already been made difficult enough by the altitude, but they also had to contend with the absence of their best player.

Without Messi to call upon, Edgardo Bauza's side struggled for inspiration and saw goals from Juan Carlos Arce and Marcelo Moreno consign them to their fourth defeat of the qualification campaign.

Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Show all 11 1 /11 Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Manuel Neuer (Germany, Bayern Munich) Getty Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Gerard Pique (Spain, Barcelona) Getty Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Daniel Alves (Brazil, Barcelona and Juventus) Getty Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid) Getty Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Marcelo (Brazil, Real Madrid) Getty Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Luka Modric (Croatia, Real Madrid) Getty Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid) Getty Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Andres Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona) Getty Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona) Getty Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Luis Suarez (Uruguay, Barcelona) Getty Fifa FifPro World XI 2016 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid) Getty

The result leaves Argentina's hopes of reaching next year's World Cup in jeopardy, with the race for qualification tightening. The three-time world champions have four games remaining and Messi will miss three of them, against Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela.

Messi has been retrospectively punished for insults aimed at – and comments about the mother of - Brazilian assistant referee Emerson de Carvalho during Argentina’s 1-0 win over Chile last week.

The Barcelona forward was caught on video invoking “the c*** of [Carvalho’s] mother” as he raged against an officiating decision. Match referee Sandro Ricci did not include the incident in his report but Fifa confirmed they were investigating regardless after being made aware of the footage.

Messi would later refuse to shake the official’s hand and Ricci denied hearing anything.

“I didn't hear any offensive language from Lionel Messi or anyone else towards myself,” he said. “If I heard any offensive words, I would have acted according to the rules of the game.”



​Messi will now not feature in Argentina's qualification efforts until their final fixture against Ecuador.

Bolivia has been a historically difficult place to go for visiting teams, with the Estadio Hernando Siles the highest football ground in the world. It even falls outside the rules set by Fifa, but was handed special exemption to host international fixtures.