Lionel Messi signed off for Argentina with one last goal and two assists as the national team beat Benin 3-0 at the Monumental. The football was familiar. The occasion was anything but: after more than two decades in the blue and white, their captain was saying goodbye.
The friendly was played on Tuesday evening, 6 October, in Buenos Aires, kicking off at midnight BST on Wednesday 7 October. Messi's international retirement was already confirmed; this was Argentina's chance to celebrate him at home, rather than a new announcement about his future.
A night for the number 10
Messi walked out with his sons and was visibly emotional during the national anthem. In the tenth minute, the match paused for a standing ovation, with fireworks accompanying the tribute. For once, the number on his back mattered more than the score on the board.
The Argentine Football Association had built the farewell around “El último tango” — the last tango. It was a fitting setting for a player whose relationship with the national team has meant so much more than trophies: years of expectation and disappointment, followed by the joy of finally winning the biggest prizes.
One final goal, two final assists
Benin kept Argentina goalless until half-time. Nicolás Otamendi broke the deadlock in the 48th minute, meeting a delivery from Messi following a corner. Nico Paz made it 2-0 in the 61st minute with a left-footed strike from outside the area, again supplied by the captain.
Then came Messi's own moment. After Agustín Giay won a penalty, he scored from the spot in the 71st minute, sending his left-footed effort into the top-right corner. Argentina won 3-0, with Messi directly involved in all three goals.
That final appearance takes him to 208 senior Argentina caps and 126 goals. He leaves as his country's leading scorer and most-capped player. On a night devoted to looking back, he still gave supporters another performance to remember.
Why has Messi retired from Argentina?
Messi announced his decision on 31 August in a letter published by the AFA. He described the pain of leaving a team he loved, said he had given everything and pointed to the younger players coming through. He also promised to keep supporting Argentina from outside the team.
This farewell closes his international career, not his club career. The 39-year-old remains an Inter Miami player, so supporters will still be able to watch him in club football. It is his time in Argentina's blue and white that has come to an end.
What he leaves behind
Messi's senior Argentina story began in 2005. Its defining achievement was the 2022 World Cup triumph in Qatar, alongside Copa América titles in 2021 and 2024 and the 2022 Finalissima. Before those senior successes came the Under-20 World Cup in 2005 and Olympic gold in 2008.
He also reached the World Cup final in 2014 and again this summer, when Argentina finished runners-up to Spain. The farewell in Buenos Aires gave supporters a separate ending: not the disappointment of a lost final, but the chance to thank the player who had carried their hopes for so long.
Argentina now have to move forward without him. Paz's goal offered a glimpse of that next chapter, but replacing Messi will never be a like-for-like task. This night was about acknowledging that — and enjoying the number 10 one last time.
Read more in our football news section and revisit the tournament in our World Cup centre.
Sources: Messi's official website, the AFA's retirement letter and farewell tribute, FIFA, EFE's report from the Monumental and Sky Sports' match coverage.
Archive photograph: Lionel Messi playing for Argentina at the 2022 World Cup, not at the farewell match. Hossein Zohrevand / Tasnim News Agency, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Image unchanged.
