Lionel Messi will bring the curtain down on his glittering Argentina career on Tuesday with a farewell friendly against Benin that marks the dawn of a new era for the South American champions. After more than two decades of service to his country, the 39-year-old superstar will hand over the captain’s armband for good as he makes his final appearance in the Albiceleste jersey at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires. Messi will be joined for his international swansong by 85,000 spectators and several of the teammates with whom he reached the pinnacle of football at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, alongside members of Argentina’s emerging generation.
They have already begun to rally around Messi’s heirs, who showed their appetite for success in Argentina’s first game since the World Cup final, against Bolivia in Cordoba on Wednesday. The friendly marks a symbolic passing of the torch for a player whose international legacy includes a World Cup title, two Copa America crowns and the Finalissima. His farewell comes two and a half months after Argentina’s ill-tempered World Cup final defeat to Spain in New Jersey, where Messi exited in tears after making little impression.
Messi also bows out as Argentina’s record appearance-maker and leading scorer, with 125 goals in 207 games, as well as a record 68 assists. Members of Argentina’s 2022 World Cup-winning squad — the players who delivered the country’s third star — and their families will join Messi for Tuesday’s farewell against Benin, ranked 93rd in the world. They followed that victory with a 7-0 rout of Burkina Faso at the Monumental on Saturday, with Mastantuono and Gianluca Prestianni scoring their first international goals.
