After 208 games, Argentina finally says goodbye to Messi
BUENOS AIRES — Lionel Messi has ended his Argentina career exactly as millions of supporters would have wanted: scoring his 126th international goal and creating two more as the world champions beat Benin 3-0 on an emotional farewell night in Buenos Aires.
More than 85,000 supporters packed the Monumental Stadium on Tuesday night to say goodbye to the 39-year-old after a 21-year international career that transformed him from a player once questioned by some Argentinians into the country’s most decorated footballer.
The farewell had begun hours before kick-off. Thousands of supporters lined the route from Argentina’s training centre as the team bus travelled towards the stadium, with Messi visibly wiping away tears. In Rosario, his hometown, a giant number 10 Argentina shirt carrying the word “Gracias” was displayed at the National Flag Memorial.
Messi’s emotions were also deeply personal. Speaking after the match, he referred to the recent death of his father and said leaving the national team would hurt after more than two decades representing Argentina.
Once the football started, Messi delivered one final performance worthy of the occasion.
After a goalless first half, he created the opening goal for Nicolas Otamendi, who was also making his final Argentina appearance after spending 17 years alongside Messi in the national team. Messi then provided the pass for Nico Paz to score Argentina’s second.
The final goal was left to Messi himself.
A penalty gave him the 126th international goal of his career and Argentina a 3-0 victory, prompting another eruption from supporters chanting his name around the Monumental.
At full-time, players from both teams and match officials gathered around Messi before a drone show and musical tribute brought the evening to a close.
The numbers accompanying his departure are unlikely to be matched easily. Messi retires as Argentina’s record appearance-maker with 208 caps and its highest goalscorer with 126.
But his international career cannot be explained by records alone.
For years, Messi’s extraordinary success at Barcelona was used against him in Argentina. He lost the 2014 World Cup final and endured repeated Copa America heartbreak, with criticism intensifying whenever he failed to reproduce his club success for the national team. After another Copa America final defeat in 2016, he briefly retired from international football.
His return eventually produced the trophies that dramatically changed his relationship with the country.
Messi captained Argentina to the Copa America title in 2021, finally winning a senior international trophy, before leading the country to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Another Copa America followed in 2024.
That journey explains why Tuesday’s farewell carried significance beyond the retirement of a famous footballer. Argentina was saying goodbye to a player whose national-team career had moved through criticism, disappointment and temporary retirement before ending with the country’s biggest trophies and widespread affection.
Messi had spent much of his career being asked to prove himself to Argentina. By the time he walked off the Monumental pitch for the last time, there was little left to prove.
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