Lionel Messi will play farewell match for Argentina against Benin in Buenos Aires on October 6

Farewell match at Estadio Monumental

Argentine Football Association president Claudio Tapia confirmed on Tuesday that Lionel Messi will return to the Argentina national team for a final farewell match on October 6. The 39-year-old Inter Miami forward will play against the African nation of Benin at River Plate's Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires. The fixture will serve as Messi's 208th and final appearance in an Argentina shirt, giving the forward an opportunity to add to his career total of 125 international goals. Messi previously announced his retirement from international duty following a 21-year tenure with the senior team that included winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

We invited the best player in the world to play, our captain Lionel Andres Messi, to have a deserved farewell on October 6, here in Argentina.

Honoring the 2022 World Cup winners

The Argentine Football Association confirmed that Messi accepted the invitation following formal discussions between Tapia and national team manager Lionel Scaloni. Teammates Giovani Lo Celso and Rodrigo de Paul, who won the 2022 World Cup alongside Messi, are also scheduled to feature in the match against Benin. In addition to the players selected on the pitch, the federation announced that all members of the squad that won the World Cup in Qatar four years ago have received invitations to attend the Buenos Aires fixture alongside their families. The farewell follows Messi's sixth appearance at a World Cup tournament, where he became only the second men's player after Brazil's Cafu to feature in three World Cup finals, having contested the championship games in 2014, 2022, and 2026.

Three-match friendly schedule

The game against Benin will conclude a three-match series of home friendlies scheduled for Argentina across the autumn window. The national team will return to domestic action on September 30 to face Bolivia at the Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium in Córdoba, marking its first appearance on home soil since the World Cup. Following that match, the team will travel to Buenos Aires to play Burkina Faso at the Estadio Monumental on October 3. Messi will participate exclusively in the final fixture against Benin on October 6, sitting out both the opener against Bolivia in Córdoba and the second match against Burkina Faso.

Scaloni's status and FIFA suspensions

The upcoming friendly series will be Argentina's first on-field action since the 1-0 defeat to Spain in the World Cup final on July 19. The team enters the matches with uncertainty regarding the future of head coach Lionel Scaloni, whose contract expires in December. Scaloni hinted after the July final that he might step down from his post. The squad will also manage roster absences resulting from disciplinary sanctions. FIFA recently handed bans to three Argentine players (Leandro Paredes, Nahuel Molina, and Thiago Almada) following a scuffle after the World Cup final, with Paredes receiving a 10-match suspension. The AFA plans to release its full squad list for the three matches in the coming days.