Key events
Argentina says goodbye to Lionel Messi
So then, we’ve seen the last of Lionel Messi in an Argentina shirt. The man himself wanders the pitch at Estadio Monumental – the referee, curiously, hands Messi his cards. Benin players mob him for selfies, a commonplace sight at nearly every match Messi is involved in. Fans serenade him, as they’ve done all night.
In an absolutely surreal moment, Messi and his teammates look skyward towards a drone show (of course), expecting to see a No. 10, or a soccer ball, or whatever – and instead see the word mark of a bank, a massive advertisement. The crowd boos loudly. They cheer a minute or so later when the drones finally form a Messi shirt.
This was far from the flashbulb send-off we wanted, but Messi left his mark nonetheless with a pair of lovely assists and a goal of his own (albeit a penalty) against a grossly outmatched Benin side. The match was a nice gesture but in the end, very few will remember Argentina’s 3-0 win tonight – they’ll pick from the laundry list of meaningful highlights Messi has created for his national team over the last two decades. Gracias, Leo.
Full Time
Argentina with an easy 3-0 victory over Benin tonight. While the game lacked the moment of individual brilliance we all wanted out of Lionel Messi, he still left his mark on it with a pair of assists and a goal of his own, to boot. Still, it felt like a bit of an anticlimax.
Who knows, maybe Messi can be goaded out of retirement once more? Maybe as an overage player at the 2028 Olympics? One more Copa America? I give up.
90 Min (+3): Messi with one final chance on a free kick from 21 yards, dead center. “Like something out of a movie,” the commentator says. Messi, though, puts it over the bar.
Three minutes of stoppage time, it’s been announced. Three minutes left in Lionel Messi’s international career.
Min 89: Messi hits the post! Lovely combination play finds Messi 12 yards from goal. His driven effort caroms off the near post – “el palo santo” as they call it on Vix. Again, hard to believe Messi is still sitting on a single goal.
Prior to this match I thought it would be a needed goodbye to the greatest-ever player in the history of the sport. As the night’s progressed, my mind has shifted a little bit. Messi’s 2022 World Cup triumph was the perfect cap on his international career and his 2026 run to the final – the final itself aside – was equally lovely to watch. I think in retrospect I’d have been fine with the lasting image of him being Messi standing in front of Argentina’s fans after losing to Spain, in tears.
Those moments, though, will be the ones that persist for me – within a month, I probably will have forgotten about this Benin match.
83 Min: Messi played in nicely and receives the ball at the edge of the six (in an offside position, sadly.)
75 Min: Honestly an absolutely unbelievable miss from Messi, who runs onto a well-placed cross – dead-center of goal, seven yards out, entirely unmarked – and then proceeds to tap it wide of the near post.
73 Min: The biggest cheers of the night aren’t for a Messi goal but for the sight of him at a full sprint as he saves a ball from crossing the endline. Messi’s competitiveness is legendary – and even at 40, remains untouched.
Goal! Argentina 3 – 0 Benin. (Messi, 70)
Messi – who has struggled with penalties in recent years – hits this one perfectly into the upper 90 at the near post. Keeper never had a chance. It may not be the flashbulb moment we wanted, but it’s something!
69 Min: An awkward challenge in the box by Benin leads to an Argentina penalty.
I wonder who will take it.
In many ways the story of this match mirrors Messi’s own evolution as he’s aged. Messi’s goalscoring output for club and country remains impressive but he’s turned provider later in his career, shattering records for goal contributions in Major League Soccer during his stay with Inter Miami.
He’s far removed from the glory days of mind-bending, full-field runs where he’d leave a half-dozen defenders in his wake, but his craftiness has shined in recent years, and his assists are sometimes as nice to watch as his goals.
Goal! Argentina 2 – 0 Benin (Paz, 61)
And it’s Messi with another assist. Messi plays a square ball to Nico Paz, Messi’s potential successor as Argentina’s No 10 (LOL). Paz with a well-hit, bending effort from the edge of the box. 2-0 Argentina, and Benin are rapidly losing their grasp on this one.
60 Min: Messi couldn’t have picked a better spot for a free kick, some 25 yards out and dead center. He steps over it and puts a decent effort up and over the wall but it’s easily parried away by Benin’s keeper. Come on, Leo.
I’m racking my brain here for records Messi could break (or tie) tonight and one comes to mind is free kick goals for club and country, all time. Messi currently sits at 76; the all-time record is held by legendary Brazilian specialist Marcelinho Carioca (they called him “angel feet,” if you’re wondering) with 78.
50 Min: Argentina with a pair of subs, the first of many I’m sure. Otamendi and defender Nicolás Tagliafico make way for Lisandro Martinez and Facundo Medina, respectively.
Goal! Argentina 1 – 0 Benin (Otamendi, 48)
Lionel Messi with a well-placed corner kick and it’s Otamendi, the man we all came to see score tonight, who volleys it home at close range.
Messi, at least, won’t be leaving empty-handed tonight. That’s his 68th assist with the national team.
Second half begins
Both teams out for the start of the second half – Argentina’s XI remains unchanged. Let’s see if they can deliver some badly needed joy in the second 45.
Halftime at Estadio Monumental
It has to be said: this has been a pretty dreadful match to watch, far from the celebration we were promised. We’ll see what Argentina have in store for us in the second 45.
What did you guys think? Use the link above to reach me and we’ll unpack it all here.
Guardian reader Peter reaches out via email:
If Messi doesn’t score, they’ll have to organize another farewell match.
I would not put this past the AFA!
44 Min: Benin with another effort, again easily handled by Martinez.
43 Min: Olaitan is again the danger man for Benin, as the midfielder puts a decent effort on goal from 15 yards, but it does little to challenge Martínez.
40 Min: Benin doing their best to generate a little danger but they’ve had few chances, all of them generated on the counterattack. Still, it feels almost unbelievable that Argentina haven’t found any joy against such an outmatched opponent. The longer this stays 0-0, the longer the unthinkable remains a possibility.
32 Min: Messi with another chance as Argentina striker Lautaro Martínez plays a driven cross to Messi, who sends his volleyed effort wide of the far post. Certainly not a sitter by any measure, but I’d have put money on Messi to finish at least one of his three big chances thus far.
Guys, what if he doesn’t score?
26 Min: Messi lines up for a free kick 30 yards from goal and puts it on target at the near post, but it’s dealt with easily by Benin goalkeeper Marcel Dandjinou.
Similar distance to one of his all-time greatest efforts – his free kick goal against the United States at the 2016 Copa America. Different result, though.
24 Min: Messi laughs after he misses a golden chance. Messi’s Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul found him at the edge of the six with a driven cross. Messi, fully outstretched, redirected the cross just wide of the near post. Feels like it’s only a matter of time before the inevitable.
19 Min: Benin midfielder Junior Olaitan gives The Cheetahs their first real chance of the game, streaking towards the byline and driving his shot from eight yards wide of goal – Argentina keeper Emi Martínez (who has a tribute to Messi shaved into his hair tonight, by the way) seemed to have it covered regardless.
Still, impressive fight from a vastly outclassed opponent.
14 Min: Messi receives the ball 25 yards from goal above the semicircle and deftly plays Nicolás Otamendi through with a one-touch service. Otamendi, though, is offside. Predictably enough, Argentina with the bulk of the action in this one thus far.
10 Min: The match is stopped at the 10th minute for a one-minute ovation. More fireworks, more tears as Messi salutes the crowd, which are serenading him – “Olé, Olé Olé Olé, Messi, Messi.” Not sure what Ifab or Fifa have to say about any of this but honestly who cares at this point.
Guardian reader Simon shares a personal memory of Messi. Can you imagine? Simon, are you sure this wasn’t a fever dream?
I was lucky enough to meet Leo Messi a few times at the hotel I work at. An incredibly unassuming guy, we stood and watched our kids playing 3 v 3 for an hour or so. At the end he told my son “eres muy rápido” and I’ll be taking that to my grave.
7 min: Messi sees his first true action of the match, rounding his defender and letting a left-footed effort go from 25 or so yards, handled with relative ease by Benin’s keeper.
We are underway!
31 minutes late, but the ball is finally rolling at the Estadio Monumental!
Another reader email, this one from Dion in Australia, who legitimately invited me to his wedding (thanks so much, but I don’t have that budgeted) and then offered his thoughts – it’s been incredible, honestly, to watch the compare/contrast between Messi and Ronaldo’s experiences this window:
Devastating to see Messi go. Although I once saw them as equals, Ronaldo has disgraced himself this month with his Keane-’esque’ blow up at the nations league. To be a champion you must age gracefully, which Messi has done. To have such a great career in this era is an even greater achievement than in the past. The standard of defending faced by Maradona or Pele was hopeless by comparison.
Messi is not the only one crying now, as Argentina Boss Lionel Scaloni tears up during the Argentine anthem. Guardian reader Julia is also feeling it – she reaches out with this tribute:
I’m 29 years old and have watched the World Cup as long as I can remember, but 2006 is the first one that’s really clear for me. My family are Argentina fans (to put it mildly), and my dad was a Messi believer from the beginning. I hate to be that person, but I’ve literally been a Leo fan for more than two-thirds of my life, and he’s seen me through growing up, losing a parent, graduating law school, and everything else. Today feels monumental, and I’m both pretty devastated and parasocially thrilled that he’s getting all the love he deserves.
Kickoff was delayed from 7 to 7.15 and we still don’t have teams on the pitch. We’ll see how long this drags out – the pitch, as of now, is covered by a massive Messi jersey, and the stadium is in full voice singing “Muchachos,” Argentina’s iconic battle call as of late.
By the way, if any of you have comments, questions, compliments, criticisms, or memories of Messi in an Argentina shirt, feel free to use the link at the head of this page to email me and we’ll navigate them together. It’s lonely here in the basement.
A lot of chatter on the Vix broadcast about ticket prices, which has been a central point of discussion in Argentina ahead of this match, with some accusing the Argentine Football Association of price gauging. “Sorry to those of you who couldn’t be here,” says the pitchside commentator, in Spanish, “maybe because of decisions made by people far away from the pitch. The prices for this match certainly were not for ‘the people.’”
Reminds me a bit of the World Cup, obviously, and just like those matches, this one is fully sold out.
Guardian reader Paul reached out via email and is apparently deep in the comments section of a 20-year-old Messi article we published here at the Guardian. I can only hope Guardian reader “snafuclarke” has fully recovered from such a scorchingly terrible take:
don’t kid yourselves. messi is currently hugely overrated. the amount of hype this lad gets has never matched his performances on the pitch the last game aside.
the fact is that all too often he’s peripheral to the game and rarely has any effect on the result. one game where he bags a hat trick does not make him the superstar some are desperate to acclaim him.
if he continues to put in that sort of performance over the course of a few years, fine he’ll be up there, but anyone saying, “oh he’s great player, even now” is either devoid of anything to compare him against or just not very clued up about football. potential is one thing, performance is what counts and this far one game in what 40 odd first team games perhaps, is not a very good record.
We’ve seen a lot of tears out of Messi over the years – tears when he briefly retired from the national team in 2016, tears when he won in 2022, tears of joy and sadness alike at the 2026 World Cup. Today we add “tears on the bus ride to the stadium” and “tears during warmups” to the archives.
A moment of appreciation, please, for athletes who emote so openly. It’s lovely to see.
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Absolutely electric atmosphere at the Estadio Monumental, the home ground of Argentine side River Plate and the largest stadium in the country – it is filled to capacity well ahead of the opening kick.
Argentina are near-unbeatable at the venue and Messi himself has never lost a match at the stadium, having won 22 of the 28 matches he’s played there with Argentina and drawn the other six, scoring 19 goals along the way.
Something tells Benin will not be breaking that streak tonight.
Argentina’s starting XI is out and Messi, unsurprisingly, is in it, as are many of the players who helped guide Argentina to the 2026 World Cup final.
Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martínez
Defenders: Agustín Giay, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Nicolás Tagliafico
Midfielders: Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, Rodrigo De Paul
Forwards: Julián Álvarez, Lautaro Martínez, Lionel Mess
Messi, like any other megastar, has his haters and believers. I can’t say I fall into either side, but I find myself a bit sad watching the early scenes at Estadio Monumental.
I’ve covered him in person dozens of times at this point, both with Argentina at this summer’s World Cup and over the entirety of his club career at Inter Miami. I can’t say it ever gets old – his magic is so predictable at times but never ceases to amaze. As I told a friend the other day – watching Messi is like watching a comedian tell the same joke over and over again, and you still laugh every time. Let’s see what he has in store for us tonight.
I could populate the entirety of this pre-match coverage with milestones and statistics from Messi’s illustrious career – his international career alone is a statistician’s dream, especially in the past two World Cup cycles, which saw him solidify his status as an immortal.
Our own Ryan Benson unpacks the statistical absurdity of it all, arguing that Messi has at this point “completed football.” It’s hard to disagree:
For now, though, it’s time for Argentina to celebrate what they have achieved with Messi because there is no guarantee it will ever be as good as this again. Argentina had already won the lottery once before with Maradona; it’ll surely be a while before they strike gold a third time. Luckily, Messi provided them with memories to last a lifetime.
More at the link below.
If you’re watching tonight’s game in the United States you’re likely tuned into Vix, a Miami-based streaming service that operates in the US, South America and Spain. It’s probably unfair to call it an odd fit – the service regularly broadcasts matches from a host of competitions across North and South America but still – you’d think the final international appearance of the world’s best-ever footballer would find a wider audience elsewhere.
Pablo Iglesias Maurer
Hi folks, Pablo Iglesias Maurer here, settled in and ready for Lionel Messi’s swan song as Argentina welcome 93rd-ranked Benin to El Monumental for an international friendly.
First things first – if you’re wondering why Argentina is playing a team like Benin, you likely haven’t been paying much attention to the types of friendlies the Albiceleste typically schedule. It’s far from their first encounter with a bottom-rung opponent; the average FIFA global ranking of their friendly opponents over the past several years is 85, at the moment, having faced other minnows like Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
This dynamic offers little in the way of competition but offers the Argentine Football Association a huge amount of control in terms of logistics and financial terms. Tonight, it may lead to all of us seeing Messi score a dozen goals or more. Who knows.
Messi’s international career falls into two distinct halves. There was the first decade when there was a sense that he didn’t quite fit, was somehow insufficiently Argentinian, didn’t care for his country. That was always absurd and can be recognised now as a manifestation of the Argentinian public’s frustration at their trophy drought despite the presence in their forward line of one of the best three to play the game.
Then Messi retired, distraught after a missing a penalty in the shootout against Chile in the Copa América final in 2016. Suddenly, Argentina, rather than just lashing out at their biggest star, was forced to confront what it would mean to live without him. The prospect was so appalling it provoked a mass campaign to encourage Messi to reverse his decision.
Since then he has been loved and, despite a shambolic World Cup in 2018, has delivered with two Copas América, a World Cup and another World Cup final. His career was dogged by the accusation that he never matched Diego Maradona’s achievements in a national shirt; he ended up having won more.
Read more from Jonathan Wilson:
Preamble
Hello and welcome to our liveblog of a sure-to-be emotional occasion in Buenos Aires. Pablo will be along shortly.
