The British and Irish Lions' 2025 Tour began with a 28-24 defeat to Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday.

It was a topsy-turvy match, with momentum swinging both ways in Dublin, but Tomas Albornoz produced an impressive performance to help Argentina get over the line.

Albornoz and Fin Smith both scored early penalties, but it was Ignacio Mendy who claimed the first try, skipping inside Duhan van der Merwe to touch down.

Either side of that, the Lions were frustrated, as Luke Cowan-Dickie and Sione Tuipulotu both had tries overturned following reviews, much to the home crowd's disappointment.

Bundee Aki did get them on the board 18 minutes in; Tuipulotu offloaded it out wide and Aki straightened up to barrel his way over the line, with Fin Smith converting to give the Lions the lead for the first time.

However, Albornoz restored Argentina's lead with two more kicks and then stretched it further, bursting through while two-on-one to cross before converting the try to put the Pumas 21-10 up at the break.

The Lions made a strong start to the second half, though, with a penalty try via a rolling maul five minutes after the break, which resulted in Mayco Vivas being sent to the sin bin, followed by Tadhg Beirne powering over the line to put them back in control.

However, Argentina would have the last say, as Tom Curry missed a tackle, and Albornoz picked out Matias Moroni, who kicked it forward, with Santiago Cordero beating Marcus Smith in a foot race to score, and the Lions were unable to offer a late response.

It's all over in Dublin.

Congratulations on the win @lospumas, that was some contest #Lions2025 pic.twitter.com/eHXUGCub5Y

— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) June 20, 2025

Data Debrief: Pumas show their fight

The Lions boasted a strong record against Argentina and were unbeaten in their previous seven encounters (W6 D1) before Friday's match.

They had also gone unbeaten in the first fixture of each of their last 13 tours (W12 D1), excluding one-off fixtures, with that 2005 draw against the Pumas the only blemish in that run.

It was a big win for Argentina, though, who have not had a lot of luck in recent trips to Dublin, having lost their previous 11 Tests away to Ireland. They also came into this match as underdogs, according to the Opta supercomputer, and they will be delighted to have upset the odds.