According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Messi will play his final match for the Argentina national team at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires. Over 80,000 fans will attend, with tickets selling out in two hours.

The moment has finally arrived. Messi is set to play his 208th and final match for the Argentina national team. He accepted the tribute ceremony proposed by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) for a grand farewell to the "number 10." The AFA invited Benin as the opponent for this farewell match.

Tomorrow night, local time, Messi will bid farewell to the national team and the entire nation at the Monumental stadium (over 80,000 spectators, tickets sold out in just two hours). This comes more than 21 years after his national team debut against Hungary—the same opponent Diego Armando Maradona faced when he first donned the Argentina jersey, a striking echo of history. Maradona began his international career on February 27, 1977, at La Bombonera, while Messi made his debut on August 17, 2005, at the Puskás Arena in Budapest. He was sent off with a red card just seconds after coming on—a chaotic debut that launched an extraordinary career, culminating in two consecutive World Cup finals: one won against France in Qatar, and another lost to Colombia two and a half months ago in New Jersey. At that time, Messi was devastated due to his father's serious illness, and shortly after his beloved father's passing, he announced his retirement from the Argentina national team.

Subsequently, a rather troubling situation unfolded. The Argentine Football Association is currently in turmoil. President Chiqui Tapia is facing trial for tax evasion and other financial irregularities; if he needs to travel abroad, he must apply for formal authorization, which will only be granted after posting an extremely high bail. Coach Scaloni's contract expires at the end of the year, and he has been considering leaving for months. Messi himself was initially reluctant about this tribute match, believing it to be merely a last resort by the AFA to profit from his name and generate millions in revenue.

He eventually accepted, but the match has caused considerable controversy. During this international window, the AFA arranged three home friendlies, inviting Bolivia, Burkina Faso, and Benin. Scaloni grimaced when discussing the opponents, stating, "Of course, I would have preferred to face stronger teams." Bolivia was defeated 4-0, and Burkina Faso suffered a humiliating 7-0 loss—this match against their U23 team was dubbed a "shameful friendly" because the senior team boycotted it. The AFA relies on a Colombian intermediary agency to find small football associations that do not demand appearance fees, can travel on budget airlines, and stay in economy hotels. This spring, Mauritania and Zambia visited Argentina. Burkina Faso refused, but now Benin has agreed to participate in Messi's farewell match at no cost, content merely to appear in this historic moment. Messi will aim to add to his already remarkable 125 national team goals, especially as he continues competing with Cristiano Ronaldo in the race to 1,000 career goals: Ronaldo currently leads with 979 goals to Messi's 931, and has just been dramatically dropped from the Portuguese national team during this emotionally turbulent moment spanning Europe and South America.

Almost all his teammates from the last two World Cups will be there to bid Messi farewell, and the entire nation will join in—a nation that long struggled to embrace him, even accusing him of lacking deep affection for the national jersey and of performing better during his Barcelona years, which had welcomed him at age 13. For Messi, it was a long journey: he lost all four of his first major finals—the Copa América in 2007, 2015, and 2016, and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Everything changed with the arrival of Scaloni, who had played alongside Messi in three matches, including Messi's debut against Hungary. Scaloni is Messi's ninth national team coach. With two Copa América titles, Argentina finally won in 2021, less than eight months after Maradona's tragic death—a trophy they hadn't lifted since 1993. This was followed by victory in the 2022 Finalissima against Italy, and then the World Cup triumph in Qatar—Argentina's third World Cup after victories in 1978 under Kempes and 1986 under Maradona. The comparison with Maradona finally reached its conclusion. Messi also won the 2024 Copa América, and this summer, at 39, he led a clearly limited national team all the way to the World Cup final. In his 21 years with the national team, Messi has rewritten football history, breaking countless records, and tomorrow night, he will receive a final embrace from a grateful nation.

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