Argentina Beat Benin 3-0 in Messi’s Farewell Match

Updated 7 times · Latest: 10 October 2026

Lionel Messi ended his 21-year Argentina career on Tuesday 6 October with a penalty and two assists in a 3-0 win over Benin at the Monumental in Buenos Aires. It was his 208th and last appearance, and his 126th goal for the national team.

The confirmation came from the top of the Argentine Football Association. On 15 September 2026, AFA president Claudio Tapia announced the decision publicly.

“We invited the best player in the world to play, the icon of our selection, our captain Lionel Andrés Messi, to have a deserved farewell on 6 October, here in Argentina,” Tapia said.

How the Farewell Match Went

Argentina won 3-0 before 85,000 fans. Nicolás Otamendi opened the scoring in the 48th minute from a Messi corner, and Nicolás Paz made it 2-0 in the 61st after a pass from Messi. Messi then scored from the penalty spot, his 126th goal for Argentina, and the crowd gave him a long ovation.

The occasion was staged around him. A giant banner reading “Gracias Messi” was unfurled before kick-off, Messi walked out with his three sons, and play was paused in the tenth minute for a minute of applause for the number 10. A light show over the stadium followed the final whistle. Earlier that day the University of Buenos Aires gave him an honorary doctorate.

For viewers in the United States, kick-off was 7 p.m. on the East Coast. Benin, coached by Gernot Rohr, were the visitors for the night, and Otamendi was reported to be making his own last appearance for the national team.

A Career in Numbers

Messi retires from international duty as Argentina’s most-capped player, with 208 appearances, and its all-time leading scorer, with 126 goals. Only Cristiano Ronaldo, with 146 for Portugal, has more international goals.

At World Cups he scored 21 times, second on the all-time list behind Kylian Mbappé’s 22. His 12 World Cup assists, ten of them in knockout rounds, are a record no other player on record approaches; nobody else has more than eight.

The honours tell the same story. He captained Argentina to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and won two Copa América titles, in 2021 against Brazil at the Maracanã and in 2024. The 2021 triumph ended Argentina’s 28-year wait for a major trophy. He holds eight Ballon d’Or awards, more than any player in history.

His final tournament was his sixth World Cup. Argentina lost the final 1-0 to Spain on 19 July 2026. Messi scored eight goals and made four assists across the competition, the best return of his six World Cups in pure numbers. After the final whistle he called the pain “immense”.

It began with a strange footnote. His debut in 2005, as a substitute against Hungary, ended with a red card less than a minute after he came on. He was 18.

Why He Chose This Moment

Messi announced his retirement on Instagram on 31 August 2026. He wrote the message on 21 July, two days after the World Cup final.

“Time is running short, chapters come to a close, and this is one that hurts me deeply,” he wrote. “I’ve given it my all, I have nothing left to give, and besides, there are some really great young players coming through behind me who deserve their chance.”

He addressed supporters directly. “Thank you for all the love over the past 20 years. I’m going to miss hearing you from the pitch so much. Now I’ll be just one of you, always cheering and supporting from the sidelines.”

The decision followed a hard summer. His father Jorge died in August at 68, after a long illness. “Today, after what happened with my dad, I’m even more convinced than before,” Messi wrote.

Tim Vickery, the BBC’s South American football writer, offered one reading of the timing. In his analysis, the death of Messi’s father and the one-sided nature of the final against Spain hastened a decision that age makes inevitable for every athlete.

Three Friendlies in Sixteen Days

The Benin match closed a three-game home window, Argentina’s first fixtures since the World Cup. On 30 September the team beat Bolivia 4–0 at the Mario Kempes Stadium in Córdoba, with goals from Lautaro Martínez, Nicolás Paz, captain Cristian Romero and José Manuel “Flaco” López. On 3 October it beat Burkina Faso 7–0 in Buenos Aires.

Messi played in neither warm-up game. He is due to feature only in the Benin match, after receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Buenos Aires, its highest honour, on the Tuesday of the farewell. He arrives from Miami, where he scored a free-kick for Inter Miami at Columbus at the weekend.

Coach Lionel Scaloni has used the week to trial a Messi-free eleven built around Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez. The Burkina Faso game showed the result: Lautaro Martínez, Gianluca Prestianni, Nicolás Paz, Julián Álvarez and Franco Mastantuono were among the scorers in a 7–0 win. The visitors fielded several under-23 players after a delayed flight left them arriving in Buenos Aires only on Saturday afternoon, so the scoreline says little about the quality of the opposition.

The Córdoba game came with a restriction. Capacity was reduced by 50 percent, part of FIFA sanctions over incidents during this year’s World Cup, and the same cut applies to the Burkina Faso game at the Monumental.

Three players will miss the window through suspension. Leandro Paredes is banned for ten matches, Nahuel Molina for seven and Thiago Almada for one, all for their roles in an altercation after the final against Spain.

Messi landed in Argentina on Friday 2 October with his wife Antonela Roccuzzo, their three sons and his mother, earlier than planned. He travelled to the squad base at Ezeiza on Sunday 4 October and trained with the team on Sunday and Monday, according to Infobae and Rosario3. The Benin match will be his 208th and last appearance, and the 50 percent capacity cap that applies to the two earlier friendlies does not apply to this match.

What Comes After

Club football continues. Messi’s contract with Inter Miami in Major League Soccer runs to the end of the 2028 season, and he has given no indication of stepping away earlier.

A romantic return to Newell’s Old Boys, his boyhood club in Rosario, surfaces regularly in Argentine debate. Vickery’s assessment is cautious: uprooting his family and the level of the domestic league both argue against it.

For Argentina, the window doubles as a handover. Messi himself pointed to the generation behind him. Players such as Almada already carry the creative load that he shouldered for two decades.

What It Means for You

For fans in the United States and Europe, the farewell closes an era without ending the story: Messi plays on for Inter Miami, whose Major League Soccer contract runs to the end of the 2028 season, so American audiences can still see him weekly.

For travellers, the Monumental in the Núñez neighbourhood remains the home of the national team on its big nights, reachable by train and bus from central Buenos Aires. The tickets for this match sold out in under two hours, a sign of how hard marquee fixtures there are to get; use official channels only.

What is not known: Argentina’s next fixture and the date of the next friendly window were not confirmed in the sources we checked.

For more on the opponent, our Benin explainer covers its politics and economy.

More: Argentina news, every day from The Rio Times.

Earlier updates

29 September 2026: Farewell week began with Argentina preparing to play Bolivia in Córdoba on 30 September and Burkina Faso at the Monumental on 3 October. Adidas had unveiled a special jersey with Messi’s own logo and a gold No. 10.

27 September 2026: Tickets for the farewell went on sale on 24 September and sold out in under two hours.

6 October 2026: Before the match, Argentina confirmed Messi’s 208th appearance, a full-capacity Monumental and the Chilean referee Fernando Véjar.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief