Leo Messi’s final appearance: Argentina bids farewell to its all-time record scorer

The story coming to an end had it all: surprise and hope, sadness and dismay, the bitterest defeats and the triumphs that brought joy to an entire nation. Twenty-one years ago, Lionel Messi began writing the first page of his story with the Argentina national team, and on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, he will write the last. Between that ill-fated debut against Hungary on August 17, 2005 — when he was sent off 43 seconds after stepping onto the pitch — and the match with Benin that will close his international career, Messi has already become a legend of assured immortality.

Messi played 207 matches in the sky-blue-and-white shirt, including six World Cups; he scored 125 goals and provided 68 assists, records across the board. In addition to his titles with youth national teams (world champion in the Netherlands in 2005 and Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008), as captain of the senior side he lifted two Copa América trophies (Brazil 2021 and United States 2024) and one World Cup (Qatar 2022), ending a long title drought for his country.

But the statistics and his trophy cabinet do not say as much as the image that will stay in spectators’ memories: the stunned joy at the sight of the zigzagging wonder of his unpredictable left foot; imagination and skill combined with inhuman speed after what seemed like a distracted stroll; the sudden surge and stop, cutting inside or outside, always leaving opponents bewildered. His through-balls into the back of the net and the goals he set up for teammates.

At 39, Messi has decided to bring to an end the golden international career that began more than two decades ago with whispers about a small Argentine dazzling in Barcelona’s youth ranks. His path to success — the one that saw the whole country pour into the streets four years ago — was not easy. While he triumphed at the Camp Nou, frustrations piled up with the Albiceleste and he bore the supposed obligation to emulate the other great Argentine number 10, Diego Maradona, the untamed genius who led Argentina to glory at Mexico 1986. With that impossible burden on his shoulders, he lost three Copa América finals (2007, 2015 and 2016) and a World Cup final (2014). A decade ago, Messi thought he had nothing more to give the national team and quit. It was his first farewell, a rushed decision brought on by anger and sadness, but it lasted only a few months. This time it is different.

“Time goes by, it’s been many years... Sometimes I feel good, sometimes not so good,” the Argentina captain said in September last year after his final World Cup qualifying match in Buenos Aires. “Being able to finish like this is what I always dreamed of, to celebrate with my people. For many years I had the affection in Barcelona; my dream was to have it here too, in my country, with my people,” he acknowledged. And he still had one World Cup left to play.

The decision to say goodbye seemed made and depended on how far his team would go in the tournament in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. His goals and assists extended Argentina’s stay to the last day, to the final in which Spain prevailed. A month after that defeat, and weeks after his father’s death, Messi announced his retirement from the Albiceleste. “It was a decision that hurt — and still hurts deep down — but I understand that the time has come,” he said in a public letter. “I leave with the peace and pride of having given you — together with my teammates — dreamlike moments. It was crazy to live all of this with you. I love you,” he told Argentines.

The farewell ceremony

Messi’s 208th and final match with Argentina will take place on October 6 at 8.00 p.m. Buenos Aires time. The venue will be River Plate’s Monumental, a stadium expected to be sold out after tickets were snapped up in minutes despite their high cost relative to the local economy. More than 85,000 spectators will attend the match.

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) organized the match against Benin as a tribute to Messi. There will be musical performances before the game, during halftime and at the whistle; a surprise finale is planned once the ball stops rolling. The Albiceleste will wear a special kit designed to celebrate the number 10. Coach Lionel Scaloni specially called up the players who featured in the squad with Messi at Qatar 2022 and who did not take part in the other two friendlies played last week, including some like Ángel Di María and Nicolás Otamendi, who have already retired from the national team.

Tributes to Messi will not be limited to the stadium. At the Buenos Aires University City a giant screen will be set up for those without tickets, with activities from midday. In Rosario, the player’s hometown, a giant national-team shirt with the number 10 and the word ‘Gracias’ was installed on Monday in front of the National Flag Memorial. A multimedia show will be projected onto that installation tracing Messi’s steps with the Albiceleste, images of a legend that, from tonight, will be part of Argentine soccer’s immortal history.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition