It’ll be the final showdown for glittering Argentinian superplayer Lionel Messi on Tuesday, while he plays a farewell friendly against Benin, marking the dawn of a new era for the South American champions.
Sporting his spirit for more than two decades to his country, the 39-year-old superstar will hand over the captain’s armband for good as he makes his final appearance in the Albiceleste jersey at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
Messi’s last international swansong will bear witness by nearly 85,000 spectators and seven of his teammates, with whom he reached the pinnacle of football at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, alongside the emerging Argentinian generation.
The friendly marks a symbolic passing of the torch for a player whose international legacy includes a World Cup title, two Copa America crowns and the Finalissima.
Messi also bows out as Argentina’s record appearance maker and leading scorer, with 25 goals in 207 games, as well as a record 68 assists.
His departure from the sports comes two and a half months after Argentina’s ill-tempered World Cup defeat to Spain in New Jersey, where Messi exited the ground in tears after making little impression.
Announcing his international retirement in August, Messi taking to X wrote, “I gave it my all; I have nothing left to give, and besides, there are great young players coming up who deserve their chance.”
Though he remains under contract with Inter Miami until 2028, following the death of his father, George two months ago, he has revealed he may hang up his boots sooner than anticipated.
Members of the Argentina 2022 World Cup-winning squad, the players who delivered the country’s third star and that family’s, will join Messi on Tuesday’s farewell against Benin, ranked 93rd in the world.
Angel Di Maria, the veteran of Roja triumph, who retired from international football in 2024, would also bear witness to the passing of the torch to a new generation charged with extending the Alba Celeste’s golden era.
Like Messi and Nicolás Otamendi, who, midfielders Rodrigo De Paul and Giovanni Lo Celso were also called up solely for the betting game, raising the possibility that neither will represent Argentina again.