Messi Last Match: Lionel Messi Plays His Final Argentina Game Against Benin Today

Messi Last Match: Lionel Messi will pull on the Argentina shirt for the final time on Tuesday, when Argentina vs Benin is played at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires. The international friendly is being staged as the Messi farewell, and about 85,000 fans are expected to fill the stadium to see the captain off.

The Argentine Football Association invited Messi back for this Argentina match after he announced in late August that he was retiring from the national team. Kick-off is at 8 pm local time in Buenos Aires, according to the Buenos Aires Herald, which is about 4:30 am IST on Wednesday.

Argentina vs Benin: why this friendly matters

On paper, Argentina vs Benin is an ordinary friendly. Benin are ranked 93rd in the world and the two sides have never met before. What changes the evening is that Messi, 39, will give up the captain's armband for good after it, which turns the Argentina match into a farewell.

Members of the 2022 World Cup-winning squad and their families have been invited to the Monumental. Tickets for the Messi farewell sold out in under two hours, and the AFA has planned a "Gracias, Leo" fan festival outside the ground from noon, along with a special-edition flag-inspired jersey for the night.

Messi Last Match by the numbers

Messi leaves as Argentina's record appearance-maker and leading scorer. He has 125 goals in 207 games and a record 68 assists, so the Benin game will be his 208th and final cap.

• Match: Argentina vs Benin, international friendly
• Date: 6 October 2026
• Venue: Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires
• Expected crowd: about 85,000
• Messi Argentina record: 125 goals, 68 assists
• Likely final appearance: 208th cap

From early doubts to the 2022 World Cup

Messi made his Argentina debut in 2005. His relationship with the public was not always easy, because he left for Barcelona as a boy and many at home saw him as a player shaped elsewhere. After a penalty shootout loss to Chile in the 2016 Copa America final he briefly stepped away from international football, and supporters asked him to return.

He came back and won the 2021 and 2024 Copa America titles and the 2022 Finalissima. The biggest prize followed at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the trophy that had defined the long wait of his career. That run turned him from a captain into part of Argentina's football identity.

What comes next for Argentina FC

The question after the Messi farewell is how Argentina FC move on without their biggest star. A younger group is already in the squad, and coach Lionel Scaloni now has to shape the next cycle around them. The number 10 shirt and the captaincy will be inherited by a new generation.

A farewell in Buenos Aires

For many supporters the night is about more than the result against Benin. Messi's Argentina story runs from the long-haired teenager at the 2006 World Cup to the captain lifting the trophy in 2022, and it ends where the fans can see it. Expect the attention at the Monumental to stay on the number 10 from the first whistle.

Gernot Rohr, who coaches Benin, has said he hopes to get a Messi shirt signed, a reminder that even the opposition sees this Argentina match as a special occasion.