Lionel Messi will play his final match for the Argentina national team against Benin at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires on Tuesday night, bringing an end to an international career spanning more than 20 years.
The fixture marks the final appearance for the 39-year-old forward in the iconic blue and white shirt of the Albiceleste, having led his country to victory at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, two Copa America titles, and an Olympic gold medal.
An estimated 85,000 supporters are set to fill the home venue of River Plate, Argentina's largest stadium, for the farewell match. Street vendors selling handkerchiefs around the venue in the Argentine capital are expecting high sales from fans preparing for an emotional send-off.
Veronica Brunati, an Argentine journalist who has reported on Messi since his early youth career, said everyone attending the match would certainly cry. She noted that beyond filling the trophy cabinet of the Argentine Football Association, the team captain had left a lasting mark on the country comparable to that of Diego Maradona.
Former Argentine defender Mauro Cetto, who played in France for Nantes and Toulouse, explained that Messi demonstrated the importance of perseverance. Cetto noted that after suffering defeat in three consecutive international finals, Messi showed that athletes must keep striving toward their goals, a commitment he maintained through his final World Cup appearance.
World Cup triumph amidst personal grief
Despite the physical toll of a long career, Messi guided Argentina to his third career World Cup final during the 2026 tournament. He played through severe personal hardship while his father was gravely ill before passing away a few weeks prior to his retirement match.
Brunati said Messi acting as a team leader during the most painful period of his life created a deep emotional connection with the public. She explained that Argentines were moved by his professionalism, leadership, and devotion to the national team, adding that this connection felt even more powerful than the 2022 World Cup victory in Qatar.
The peak of Argentina's recent tournament run came in a hard-fought semi-final victory over England. The match took place 40 years after Maradona scored his famous Hand of God goal and the Goal of the Century against the same opponent at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, coinciding with renewed political debate in Argentina regarding sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, known in Spanish as the Malouines.
The Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic, were the subject of a ten-week war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982, and sovereignty over the islands remains a prominent national issue in Argentine politics.
The connection between football and national identity was highlighted in August 2026 when news outlet Corta shared images on social media platform X showing a mural of Messi painted at the intersection of Diagonal 77 and 12 Street in La Plata, displayed alongside a flag declaring that the Falklands belong to Argentina. Brunati remarked that while Messi had long been compared to Maradona, the victory over England added a mystical element that elevated his standing as a global ambassador for his country.
Cetto added that defeating England was almost as significant to the Argentine public as winning the tournament itself. He said Messi delivered an extraordinary performance that completed his legacy, matching Maradona's iconic status without generating the social friction often associated with his predecessor.
A unifying symbol for Argentine society
Political scientist and essayist Fernando Mires explained that although Messi relocated to Spain at age 13 to join FC Barcelona, he retained his distinct Argentine accent and cultural identity. Mires described Messi as a family-oriented figure who reflects middle-class values, standing in contrast to Maradona's history of social, political, and personal rebellion.
Messi's standing as a social figure was reinforced by his charitable contributions, including financing medical facilities in Argentina and enabling sick children to receive treatment at hospitals in Barcelona. In 2014, he posed alongside the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a human rights organization searching for children who disappeared during Argentina's military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983.
The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo was formed during the military regime, known as the Dirty War, to trace children who were taken from political dissidents and illegally adopted by families associated with the military government.
Mires noted that Messi never forgot his working-class roots while recognizing he did not grow up in extreme poverty like Maradona. He added that Messi's decision to remain strictly apolitical allowed him to symbolically unify the entire country.
The legacy of an icon
Brunati observed that in Argentina, the holy trinity of public icons consists of Maradona, Messi, and Pope Francis, the Argentine head of the Catholic Church. She stated that Messi's career was built on the foundation laid by Maradona, noting that Messi has become an essential part of daily life, with his image appearing on shirts and figurines in homes across the nation.
The planned farewell offers Argentina a far more dignified conclusion than Maradona's sudden departure from the national team following a failed drug test at the 1994 World Cup in the United States. While that earlier exit brought unexpected grief, supporters at the Monumental Stadium have had ample time to prepare for Messi's final curtain call.
