Messi's farewell vs Benin, 79 days after losing to Spain

Messi says goodbye to Argentina on 6 October against Benin at the Monumental. Date, kick-off time and the numbers behind a farewell that began with Spain's 1-0 in the World Cup final.

Lionel Messi's farewell now has a date, an opponent and a stage: Tuesday 6 October, against Benin, at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires. It will be his 208th game for Argentina, and his last. It comes exactly 79 days after the night that changed everything. On 19 July, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Spain won the 2026 World Cup final 1-0 thanks to Ferran Torres in the 106th minute, and a 39-year-old Messi fell one step short of a second world title. If you want to know when Messi's farewell match is, who Argentina are playing and why this goodbye has Spain written all over it, read on.

Messi's farewell match: date, kick-off time and opponent

Argentina's FA (AFA) confirmed in September that the tribute would take place at the Monumental, River Plate's home, the same ground where Argentina face Burkina Faso this Saturday. Messi will sit that one out: Lionel Scaloni's staff and the federation agreed he would only feature in the final friendly of the international window, the goodbye game.

• Fixture: Argentina vs Benin (international friendly)
• Date: Tuesday 6 October 2026
• Kick-off: 8pm in Argentina, which is midnight in the UK and 1am in Spain (early Wednesday)
• Venue: Estadio Monumental (River Plate), Buenos Aires
• Guests: every member of the 2022 World Cup-winning squad, with their families

Argentina head into that night with two other games in this window: a 4-0 thrashing of Bolivia on Wednesday at the Mario Kempes stadium in Córdoba, and Burkina Faso at home this Saturday. AFA president Claudio Tapia has billed the occasion as "the last tango of the best player in the world".

Messi's last game for Argentina: it all started in New Jersey

To understand this farewell you have to go back to the 2026 World Cup final. Ninety goalless minutes, extra time with Argentina down to ten men after Enzo Fernández was sent off, and then Ferran Torres in the 106th minute, handing Spain their second star and their first since South Africa 2010. The talk that day was of a changing of the guard: 19-year-old Lamine Yamal lifted the trophy while Messi, at 39, collected a runner-up medal.

That final was also Messi's last competitive match for his country, and it turns out the decision came almost immediately. In the letter announcing his international retirement, published on 31 August, Messi revealed he had written those words on 21 July, just two days after the final. He later said the death of his father, Jorge, had settled any lingering doubts.

In the same letter he told "everyone" he was stepping away from the national team and thanked fans for "all the love over these 20 years". For Spanish fans the irony is hard to miss: Messi's last big competitive night with Argentina was the greatest night in La Roja's recent history.

Messi's Argentina career in numbers

Messi made his senior international debut on 17 August 2005, aged 18, in a friendly against Hungary. Twenty years later he bows out as Argentina's most-capped player and all-time leading scorer.

That's 125 goals in 207 games, roughly 0.6 a match at international level. Against Benin he gets one last chance to add to the tally in front of his own people.

Meanwhile, the world champions play tonight in Oviedo

The fixture list has a sense of humour. While Argentina prepare Messi's send-off, the new world champions are back in action this Saturday: Spain host the Czech Republic at 8.45pm local time at the Carlos Tartiere in Oviedo in the Nations League, without Nico Williams, who picked up a thigh problem after the win over Croatia in Seville. It is one of the fixtures on Quiniela Round 11, a round with no top-flight Spanish games because of the international break.

What to expect from Argentina vs Benin

On the pitch, the scoreline will be the least of it. Benin are modest opposition on the international stage and Argentina are at home, in front of a Monumental that will be entirely about its captain. Everything else is what matters:

1. The pre-match tribute, with the 2022 world champions and their families inside the stadium.
2. Messi's minutes: having skipped the Burkina Faso game, everything points to him starting.
3. Goal number 126: one last goal would be the perfect full stop on the most prolific career in the national team's history.
4. The handover: Argentina start looking to the generation that, in Messi's own words, "deserves its place".

Whether you follow every Argentina game or just want to watch the number 10's final night in the sky-blue and white, set an alarm: in Europe it is a late Tuesday night, early Wednesday morning kick-off.

A farewell made for a friendly prediction

Games like this are made for the group chat: will Messi score? How long will he play? Who takes the armband when he comes off? If you enjoy testing your football instincts, quiniPrats lets you set up a prediction league with friends and call the results of every Quiniela round, international fixtures like tonight's Spain vs Czechia included. Here's how it works, no pressure and at your own pace.