Argentina will host Benin at River Plate's Estadio Monumental on 6 October, a match the federation has presented as Lionel Messi's final game for the national team. The Monumental, which holds 85,000 spectators, is set to receive the captain and draw a large home crowd for what the association calls a formal farewell.
The decision follows Messi's announcement in August that he would retire from international duty after Argentina lost to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final. He also said he had been weighing his future following the death of his father, Jorge. The 39-year-old said the choice to stop playing for La Albiceleste hurt him "deeply" but that he had "given it my all" and had "nothing left to give".
Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association, said the federation invited Messi "so that he can have the farewell he truly deserves on 6 October here in Argentina." Tapia added that some members of the 2022 World Cup winning team have also been asked to attend, and described the occasion as "unforgettable."
Messi, who plays his club football for Inter Miami, finishes an Argentina career as the side's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, with 125 goals in 207 appearances. He is also an eight-time Ballon d'Or winner.
The Benin game is the last of a short friendly run, after fixtures against Bolivia on 30 September in Cordoba and Burkina Faso on 3 October in Buenos Aires. Those matches should mean Argentina's two-match home-capacity sanction, imposed after breaches of the Fifa disciplinary code during the World Cup, will have been served before the Benin fixture. The sanction followed incidents described by the federation as using a sports event for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature, team misconduct, and discriminatory chants and gestures by supporters after the semi-final win over England, when several players displayed a banner about the Falkland Islands.
Selection for the farewell window is already constrained. Two squad members, Leandro Paredes and Nahuel Molina, are not expected to be available after receiving 10-game and seven-match suspensions respectively for their roles in on-field clashes following the World Cup final. With those absences confirmed, Argentina must finalise a squad for the preparatory friendlies before the Monumental hosts the planned farewell on 6 October.
