Messi scores in Argentina farewell as Benin beaten 3-0

Lionel Messi marked his farewell appearance for Argentina with a goal in a 3-0 friendly victory over Benin at the Monumental in Buenos Aires on October 6. According to Cadena SER's match report, Argentina scored all three goals after reaching halftime with the game still goalless.

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Nicolás Otamendi opened the scoring after the interval, meeting a Messi corner with a first-time finish. Nico Paz then added Argentina's second before Messi converted a penalty to complete the scoring. The goal gave the departing captain a place on the scoresheet in the match arranged to celebrate his international career.

Messi also supplied the pass for Paz's goal, giving him two assists alongside his own finish, according to AS's account of the game. That report said the penalty followed a foul on Agustín Giay. Messi was therefore directly involved in each of Argentina's three goals on his final night with the national team.

The occasion included a tribute during play. EFE reported that the match stopped in the 10th minute as spectators at the Monumental stood to applaud Messi. The pause brought the farewell celebrations into the game itself, with the stadium acknowledging Argentina's number 10 before the scoring began.

The appearance had been announced in advance as a final international outing. FIFA reported in September that the 39-year-old had announced his international retirement the previous month and would return for the Benin friendly. AFA president Claudio Tapia had invited him to take part in a farewell in Argentina.

The victory also completed Argentina's three-match friendly programme during the international window. The Argentine Football Association said Lionel Scaloni's side had beaten Bolivia 4-0 before a 7-0 win over Burkina Faso at the Monumental. The Benin result made it three victories without conceding across that sequence of matches.

In its account of the farewell occasion, the AFA highlighted Messi's senior international honours: the 2021 and 2024 Copa América titles, the 2022 Finalissima and the 2022 World Cup. It also identified him as Argentina's record appearance-maker and leading scorer, the two national-team records that frame the career celebrated in Buenos Aires.