There are some football matches that are remembered for the scoreline.
Others are remembered because of what they represent.
For Argentina, the meeting with Benin on October 6, 2026, at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires will carry a meaning far greater than an ordinary international friendly.
It is expected to be the night Lionel Messi finally says goodbye to the Argentina shirt.
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has confirmed that Messi will feature in the farewell fixture after announcing his retirement from international football. The match at the Monumental will provide the 39-year-old captain with the opportunity to close one of the most extraordinary chapters in the history of the national team.
And fittingly, the farewell will take place at home.
A farewell 21 years in the making
Messi’s relationship with Argentina began when he made his senior international debut in 2005.
What followed was a journey filled with almost every emotion football can produce — dazzling performances, painful defeats, criticism, lost finals, redemption and, eventually, the trophies that had eluded him for years.
The Argentine star announced his retirement from international football in August, bringing an end to more than two decades with the national team.
In his farewell message, Messi admitted that the decision was painful but said he felt the time had come.
He also reflected on the younger generation waiting to take over from him, saying he had given everything he could to the national team.
Yet there was one more goodbye still to be staged.
That will come in Buenos Aires.
The Monumental awaits its No. 10
AFA president Claudio Tapia invited Messi to return for a home farewell, describing him as the emblem and captain of the national team.
The invitation was accepted, paving the way for the October 6 celebration.
“After a chat with the national team head coach, Lionel Scaloni, we have taken the decision to invite the best player in the world, emblem of our national team, our captain, Lionel Andres Messi, so he can have the farewell he truly deserves,” Tapia said.
The occasion is expected to bring together generations of Argentine football supporters who watched Messi’s journey from a gifted teenager into the player who eventually became the country’s record appearance holder and leading international goalscorer.
The AFA has also invited members of Argentina’s 2022 World Cup-winning squad and their families to attend the occasion.
From heartbreak to glory
For much of Messi’s early international career, the story was frustratingly incomplete.
He was a superstar with Barcelona and a phenomenon in world football, but success with Argentina repeatedly slipped away.
There were Copa América disappointments. There were World Cup setbacks. There were final defeats.
Then the story changed.
Messi led Argentina to the 2021 Copa América, ending the country’s long wait for a major senior international trophy.
The following year brought another landmark as Argentina won the Finalissima, before Messi finally lifted the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
Two years later came another Copa América triumph in 2024.
The trophies transformed the narrative around Messi and Argentina. The player who had once been questioned over his international legacy was now the captain at the centre of one of the country’s most successful eras.
Even his final World Cup had another chapter
Messi’s international story did not end with Qatar.
He remained Argentina’s captain at the 2026 World Cup, where the team reached the final.
Although Argentina ultimately finished runners-up, Messi added to his extraordinary World Cup record and ended the tournament with eight goals.
It was a fittingly dramatic final chapter for a player whose international career has rarely followed a simple script.
After the tournament, Messi announced that he would step away from the national team.
Now, one final appearance remains.
A record-breaking farewell
When Messi walks onto the pitch against Benin, he will do so as Argentina’s record appearance holder and leading goalscorer.
He currently has 207 appearances and 125 goals for the national team, according to Reuters.
The October 6 fixture will therefore not simply mark another number on an already extraordinary statistical record.
It will mark the closing of an era.
For more than 20 years, the sight of Argentina’s No. 10 stepping onto the pitch has been one of the defining images of international football.
From the early days when he was the prodigy expected to inherit the legacy of Diego Maradona to the veteran captain who finally delivered the World Cup, Messi’s journey with Argentina has mirrored the country’s emotional relationship with football itself.
What comes after Messi?
That may be the most intriguing question surrounding the farewell.
Argentina will continue. New players will emerge. Another captain will eventually wear the armband. Another No. 10 will inherit the shirt.
But replacing Messi is not simply about finding another talented footballer.
For two decades, he was the face of Argentina’s national team — the player around whom hopes were built, games were watched and generations of supporters formed memories.
The AFA has already described his departure as the end of an extraordinary era.
And that is why October 6 promises to be about much more than 90 minutes of football.
One last time
Messi has already experienced the highest highs and lowest lows with Argentina.
Did You Miss? UK Confirms Koi Herpesvirus Outbreak at Fish Facility in Milton Keynes
He has lost finals and won finals. He has endured criticism and received unprecedented adulation. He has carried the expectations of an entire football nation and eventually gave that nation the World Cup it had been waiting for.
Now, at 39, he will walk onto the Monumental pitch for what is expected to be the final time in Argentina’s colours.
The opponent will be Benin.
But the occasion will belong to Messi.
For Argentina, it will be a farewell.
For the fans, it will be a chance to say thank you.
And for one of football’s greatest international careers, it will be one final moment beneath the lights, with the No. 10 on his back.