Messi to say goodbye to Argentina against Benin on 6 October

Lionel Messi will play for Argentina one final time against Benin on 6 October.

Argentina have named him in the squad for the friendly on home soil, with the match billed as his farewell to international football BBC Sport. The date is set. The shirt is ready.

The game will be played at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires. The stadium is the home of River Plate. A friendly, a non-competitive international played outside a tournament, is often used for an occasion like this.

Argentine FA president Claudio Tapia said Messi was invited so he can have the farewell he deserves. Tapia said Messi has accepted the invitation to play on 6 October ABC News. That confirmation turns the Benin match into a goodbye game.

Messi announced his retirement from Argentina duty in August. The decision followed defeat by Spain in the final of the 2026 World Cup, football's four-yearly tournament for national teams. He leaves the international stage after one last run to the final fell short.

He captained Argentina when they won the 2022 World Cup. He is the country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, with 125 goals in 207 appearances. A cap is simply an international appearance, so no one has played more often for Argentina, and no one has scored more.

At club level he plays for Inter Miami. He has won the Ballon d'Or eight times, the annual award voted for the best men's player in the world. That record helps explain why his name carries weight far beyond Argentina.

Argentina's 2022 World Cup winners have been invited to the Benin game. Farewell matches often bring former team-mates back together, and this one is built around that group.

For fans, this means one more shared night. Argentina supporters never got to cheer him off after the Spain defeat. Now they get 90 minutes to do it properly in Buenos Aires, against Benin, with the champions of 2022 around him.