Messi Set for 208th and Final Argentina Cap Against Benin in Buenos Aires

Lionel Messi will wear Argentina's No. 10 one last time on October 6 at a sold-out Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.

Lionel Messi will make the 208th and final appearance of his Argentina career on October 6, 2026, when the national team hosts Benin in a friendly at River Plate's Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires. Every ticket for the 85,000-seat stadium has been sold for a night organized as the 39-year-old captain's farewell to international football. It will also be the last time he wears the Albiceleste No. 10 shirt.

The Benin match completes a three-game October schedule for Argentina. The side played Bolivia in Córdoba on September 30, with Lautaro Martínez scoring the team's opening goal at the Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium, then faced Burkina Faso on October 3 before turning to Messi's send-off.

The fixture was arranged after most observers assumed the 2026 World Cup final had already been Messi's last game for his country. Spain won that match 1-0 at MetLife Stadium in the New York/New Jersey area through a Ferran Torres goal in the 106th minute, with Argentina managing just two shots and 0.2 xG. The result echoed the 1-0 loss to Germany in the 2014 final.

Messi confirmed his retirement from the national team on August 31 in a social media post. He had written the message two days after the World Cup final but held it back while his father dealt with a medical condition. "After all this time since the final, and after thinking about it a lot, I want to tell everyone that I'm retiring from the national team," part of the message read, and it closed with, "Thank you, God, for making me Argentine."

The farewell game was the Argentine Football Association's initiative, and Messi's retirement becomes official once the match against Benin ends. AFA president Claudio Tapia said: "We made the decision to invite the best player in the world, the symbol of our national team, our captain, Lionel Andres Messi, so that he can have the farewell he truly deserves on October 6 here in Argentina." Across a two-decade international career, Messi has won the 2022 World Cup plus Copa América titles in 2021 and 2024.

Coach Lionel Scaloni initially called up 35 players before cutting the group to 28 for the October friendlies. The list combines regulars the coach is counting on for the coming years, emerging talents and most of the squad that lifted the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, giving the window a purpose beyond the goodbye.

The squad features goalkeepers Emiliano Martínez, Juan Musso and Gerónimo Rulli, along with Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez, Nicolás Tagliafico, Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez. Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Agustín Giay, Juan Foyth, Nicolás González, Facundo Medina, José Manuel López and Román Vega are also involved. The younger names on the list are Nicolás Paz, Franco Mastantuono, Matías Soulé, Giuliano Simeone, Santiago Castro, Valentín Barco and Gianluca Prestianni.

Once October 6 passes, Messi will not play for Argentina again. Enzo Fernández, Julián Álvarez, Lisandro Martínez and Lautaro Martínez are viewed as the foundation for the next era, while Nicolás Paz and Franco Mastantuono carry much of the expectation to supply the creativity that departs with the captain.