After more than two decades in the blue and white, Lionel Messi will play his final game for Argentina on October 6, when the national team faces Benin at Buenos Aires’ Estadio Monumental. The Argentine president has already declared October 6 a national holiday so everyone has the opportunity to watch his final match in the national colors.
Messi, 39, has been named in the squad for what is expected to be his 208th and final appearance for the national team, bringing an end to an international career that began in 2005 and produced 125 goals, more than any other Argentine. The farewell comes just weeks after Messi announced his retirement from international football, saying the decision “hurt and still hurts deep in my soul” but that he understood it was time.
It is an ending that arrives after perhaps the most extraordinary final act imaginable, even if it did not include the storybook finish of another World Cup. Messi led Argentina to World Cup victory in 2022, the final in 2026, and back-to-back Copa América titles in 2021 and 2024. Now, back home in Buenos Aires, the Monumental will provide the stage for a celebration of his Argentina career, with AFA president Claudio Tapia inviting the members of the 2022 World Cup-winning squad to join him. Messi leaves as Argentina’s record appearance maker and scorer, having transformed years of international heartbreak into one of the most decorated careers in the country’s history.
In honor of Messi’s final game for the national team, LOST iN is offering a 30% discount on our Buenos Aires guide. Use the promo code TYLIONEL30.
