Lionel Messi scores in Argentina farewell as Benin lose 3-0 in Buenos Aires

Lionel Messi scored in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Benin at Buenos Aires’ Monumental stadium on 6 October 2026, in the match reported as his final appearance for the national team. He also helped create Argentina’s first two goals, bringing a 21-year international career to a close in front of the home crowd.

The Argentine Football Association described the match as Messi’s last for Argentina before the home crowd. Associated Press and EL PAÍS reported it as his final national-team appearance. The distinction matters because the association’s match account specifically identifies his farewell in Argentina, while the two news organisations describe the end of his international playing career.

How Argentina beat Benin in Messi’s farewell

Argentina went into halftime without a goal. Nicolás Otamendi then opened the scoring, Nicolás Paz made it 2-0 and Messi converted a late penalty for the third. The association said the Monumental was full for the occasion and described the match as Argentina’s last of the FIFA international window.

Messi was involved before taking the penalty. EL PAÍS reported that his corner set up Otamendi’s goal and that he assisted Paz after Paz came on as a substitute. AP also credited Messi with setting up Argentina’s other two goals. His penalty gave him a goal of his own on the night, alongside those contributions to the earlier scoring moves.

What Messi and Scaloni said at the Monumental

Messi told the crowd, ‘I love you, I’m going to miss you, and I’m grateful to God to be Argentine,’ according to AP. EL PAÍS reported that he called it the saddest day of his career and spoke of the pride he took in representing Argentina for more than 20 years. RTÉ, quoting remarks attributed to the Argentine association, reported his description of playing for the national team as ‘the most wonderful thing that can happen to you.’

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said Messi left an ‘incredible legacy’ and that it would be sad not to see him play for the country again, according to RTÉ’s account of comments attributed to the association. His remarks placed the farewell in the context of a long shared spell with the national side, rather than treating the result against Benin as the measure of Messi’s career.

AP reported that more than 85,000 tickets for the match sold out in 90 minutes. Players from Argentina’s World Cup-winning squads of 1978, 1986 and 2022 returned for the send-off, the news agency said. Their presence connected the farewell to the national team’s earlier championship generations as Messi made his final appearance.

Messi’s Argentina record and the disputed totals

The association dates Messi’s senior Argentina debut to 17 August 2005 against Hungary in Budapest. Its retrospective lists four senior titles: the Copa América in 2021 and 2024, the 2022 Finalissima and the 2022 World Cup. It also counts the 2005 Under-20 World Cup and 2008 Olympic gold among his honours with Argentina. That span, from his debut to the Benin farewell, covers more than two decades of national-team football.

The titles came after a difficult stretch. AP reported that Argentina lost three consecutive finals by 2016, when Messi briefly quit the national team. He later returned and was part of the sides that won the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 World Cup. Those victories form a central part of the record the association set out in its farewell retrospective.

Published career totals do not fully agree. The association credits Messi with 207 senior appearances, 126 goals and 66 assists. AP calls the Benin match his 208th appearance and also records 126 goals; EL PAÍS reports 208 appearances, 126 goals and 70 assists. The available accounts do not explain the differences in appearances or assists, so neither disputed total should be treated as settled. All three accounts agree on his 126 goals.

The farewell also marks a change for the Argentina side that has relied on its captain across six World Cups, according to the association’s retrospective. Its account records Messi’s appearances at the tournaments from 2006 through 2026, including the 2022 title and the 2026 runner-up finish. The confirmed immediate result is a 3-0 win over Benin and Messi’s final national-team appearance; how Argentina performs without him will be decided in future matches.