Messi signs off with goal and two assists in Argentina win

Lionel Messi marked his 208th and final game for Argentina with his 126th goal as his country gave an emotional farewell to the global icon in a 3-0 win over Benin on Tuesday in Buenos Aires. The match had been dubbed "the last tango", and the 39-year-old ended 21 years, two Copa América titles and a World Cup in the only way the script allowed.

He scored, he provided two assists, he wept, and a crowd of 85,000 at the Estadio Monumental sang his name long after the final whistle.

A goal that was always coming

For a time it appeared Messi might leave the stage without giving the crowd what they wanted most, snatching at some earlier chances. He produced saves from open play and from free kicks, and stretched to get on the end of crosses, sending finishes just wide. Benin, to their credit, marked with diligence and came to give a good account of themselves.

But the script called for at least one more goal, and Messi duly delivered. With a wave of his left foot he emphatically dispatched a penalty into the roof of the net in the 71st minute, cueing up the sold-out crowd to rejoice with a collective chant of "Messi, Messi."

There was time for more. Near misses, sweet combinations, an excellent save from Benin goalkeeper Marcel Dandjinou, who pushed a shot on to the post. The last action of the game was a free kick that Messi won; he went for the top corner once more but aimed too high, and then the whistle blew.

Two assists, and a baton passed

Messi was more than just a goal scorer on the night. He delivered a corner for Nicolás Otamendi to head into the roof of the net on 48 minutes, the veteran defender's farewell goal in his 140th game for his country, earned alongside a yellow card that marked his farewell in typically competitive style.

Then, if 1-0 looked backwards, 2-0 pointed to the future. The 22-year-old Nico Paz came on just before the hour mark and was quickly in harness with Messi. They combined on the right flank, Messi played infield, and Paz curled a wonderful left-footed shot inside the far corner. The baton passed from one generation to the next.

The emotion

It began before kick-off. Messi was pictured in tears as the Argentina team bus made its way through the throngs of fans lining the route to the stadium, and more tears flowed, from both Messi and coach Lionel Scaloni, as the Argentine anthem sounded for the final time with Messi, accompanied by his sons Thiago, Mateo and Ciro, part of the line-up.

Further evidence that the game was secondary came when the action paused in the 10th minute as the whole stadium applauded Argentina's legendary No 10 while Benin players took turns shaking his hand.

"Come, come, sing with me, and a friend you'll find; hand in hand with Leo Messi, we'll all celebrate the victory," the crowd sang.

After the final whistle, the sky above the Monumental was lit up by a drone show highlighting moments from Messi's career, including the most famous image of all, holding the World Cup trophy in Qatar in 2022.

What Messi said

"I would love to keep coming back forever, because playing for the Argentine national team is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you. The most beautiful thing," Messi told the crowd.

"I experienced one of the happiest days of my career here, the day we returned for our first match after the World Cup. I will never forget what I witnessed that day; it was the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me.

"Now, inevitably, I face the saddest day of my career: saying goodbye to the national team. Goodbye to all of you. I'm going to miss you; I'm going to miss defending the national team's colors, but now I'll be right there alongside you, supporting these guys and everyone who comes after them. Always, always united.

"I just want to tell you that I love you and I'll miss you. I'm proud to be Argentine and to have fulfilled this dream with all of you. Thank you so much."

His words brought tears to countless faces in the crowd and to his team-mates gathered around him.

On the World Cup final defeat to Spain, he said: "The last World Cup took a massive toll, everything I went through. We had a dream, my dream and the whole country's dream, of becoming world champions again."

What Scaloni said

Scaloni was among those in tears during the anthem, and he was candid afterwards about the scale of the loss.

"We can put together a great squad with the new guys coming up, but I've never seen that aura in anyone else in my life," he said. "That presence he creates won't be there anymore. We'll look for new ways forward, but that feeling will be gone. Having enjoyed the experience of coaching him was incredible, and now we have to carry on without him."

The wider picture

Messi announced his international retirement in the weeks following the World Cup final loss to Spain, saying "the time has come". The Argentine Football Association tempted him to make one last appearance for "the farewell he deserves", and more than 85,000 tickets to Buenos Aires' largest stadium sold out in 90 minutes, later fetching over $2,500 on resale sites. Players from Argentina's 1978, 1986 and 2022 World Cup-winning squads, along with their families, joined the tribute.

Messi just fell short of winning back-to-back World Cups when defending champion Argentina were beaten 1-0 by Spain in the final in July in New Jersey. His tournament performance, featuring eight goals and four assists, was pivotal enough to put him back in the conversation for the Ballon d'Or, competing against the two leading contenders to succeed him, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé. He remains the only footballer to have won the award eight times.

Weeks after the World Cup, Messi's father Jorge, who also served as his agent and managed his business affairs, died in Argentina at the age of 68. As he took the microphone, Messi said it was his father he was thinking of most.

He finishes as Argentina's leading scorer and appearance holder. Only Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 146 goals in 234 games, has more games or goals in men's international history. Messi scored 21 World Cup goals across a record-tying six tournaments, and briefly retired from Argentina duty in 2016 before his most successful period with the national team, winning Copa América in 2021 and 2024 and the 2022 World Cup.

He is continuing at club level with Inter Miami, with whom he recently won the Campeones Cup, his fourth trophy with the MLS team.

What comes next for Argentina

Perhaps the most significant development of this international window was the apparent decision of Scaloni to stay on. He is under contract until the end of the year and there is nothing official yet, but the noises from both Scaloni and the Argentine FA suggest an agreement is close.

His willingness to stay is a significant gesture of faith in the new generation. Cristian Romero, Enzo Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister give the side a strong spine, with Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez up front. Nico Paz scored in all three matches Argentina played in this window, while Franco Mastantuono, Gianluca Prestianni and the young winger Lionel Flores, who only made his Boca Juniors debut in July, all promise something of the one-versus-one unpredictability that Ángel Di María supplied for so long.

Scaloni has plenty of talent to work with, and the door would always be open were Messi to decide that it might be fun to be part of the mix, passing on what he knows to the newcomers. But if this really is the end, Argentina gave him a beautiful send-off.

SportsLigue