Lionel Messi says his send-off game on Tuesday was the “saddest day of my career” as he ended his Argentina career after 21 years.
The 39-year-old marked his 208th and final appearance with his 126th international goal, converting a 71st-minute penalty in a 3-0 victory over Benin at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires. He also created Argentina’s other two goals, with Nicolas Otamendi heading in from his corner before Nico Paz added a third.
The more than 85,000 tickets at the stadium sold out within 90 minutes. There was a pause in the 10th minute to honour Argentina’s No 10. A drone display after the final whistle also showed images from his career, including the World Cup win in 2022.
Messi will continue to play at club level with Inter Miami, having recently won the Campeones Cup, his fourth trophy with the MLS side. He had announced after Argentina’s loss to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final that “the time has come”, bringing an end to his international career despite attempts by the Argentine Football Association to persuade him to return for a farewell appearance.
“It was a huge source of pride for me to defend this jersey for more than 20 years,” Messi told the crowd after the match. “Not coming any more is going to be deeply painful. I swear I’d like to play for the rest of my life, because playing for the Argentina national team is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you.”
#AD10S 🐐
𝙔 𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙤 𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙟𝙤𝙨 𝙩𝙪 𝙪́𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖 𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙖
𝙈𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙮 𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙤 𝙡𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤́𝙭𝙞𝙢𝙖 𝙟𝙪𝙜𝙖𝙙𝙖 https://t.co/zKNVwKT3XJ— 🇦🇷 Selección Argentina ⭐⭐⭐ (@Argentina) October 7, 2026
For the farewell Argentina returned to the Monumental, a stadium of significance for Messi. It was where they won the 2022 World Cup, with Messi having led the team to the trophy in Qatar to match the achievement of Argentina great Diego Maradona.
“I’m here on the saddest day of my career, which is the day I have to say goodbye to the national team, goodbye to all of you,” Messi said. “But now I’ll be on that side [with the fans], supporting all the boys, everyone who comes in. Always united.”
Argentina’s World Cup campaign had ended with the 1-0 defeat to Spain in July. Messi said the demands of the tournament had confirmed his decision to step away.
“Even though I want to be here all my life, I feel that this is the moment,” he said. “The last World Cup was too much, everything I had to live through.”
Messi leaves Argentina with a record appearance and as their leading scorer. He won the Copa America in 2021 and 2024 and the World Cup in 2022, having briefly retired from international football in 2016 after Argentina’s Copa America final defeat by Chile.
His final tournament produced eight goals and four assists as Argentina reached the World Cup final, where they narrowly missed out on becoming champions for a second successive tournament.
Lionel Scaloni, who coached Messi through Argentina’s most successful period, said his departure would leave a gap that could not simply be filled by another player.
“We can put together a great squad with the new guys coming up, but I’ve never seen that aura in anyone else in my life,” Scaloni said. “That presence he creates won’t be there anymore. We’ll look for new ways forward, but that feeling will be gone.”
