Manager responds as two World Cup winners banned from attending Lionel Messi’s last Argentina match

Messi plays his last match for Argentina in Buenos Aires against African side Benin on Tuesday night.

Two World Cup winners will not be in attendance for Lionel Messi's Argentina farewell match against Benin on Tuesday after being blocked from travelling by their club – and their club manager has now explained why.

Messi announced his retirement from international football after Argentina lost the World Cup final to France, but will play one final match for his country in Buenos Aires.

All of Messi's 2022 World Cup-winning team-mates – who aren't already in the Argentina squad – have been invited to attend, but Paulo Dybala and Nahuel Molina will not be present.

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Messi's farewell match, which is a friendly, will take place at 8pm local time on Tuesday evening in Buenos Aires.

That means it falls within the ongoing international window, with a number of European nations playing their final Nations League matches of the break on the same evening.

But Dybala and Molina have been blocked by bosses from their current side Roma from travelling out to Argentina.

READ NEXT: Club issue statement as two players banned from attending Lionel Messi's Argentina farewell

Speaking to Sky Sports Italy, Roma head coach Gian Piero Gasperini stated that both players have been told to stay in Rome because of the amount of time they would have to spend in the air ahead their side's upcoming Serie A clash away to Como on Sunday afternoon.

"We are too close to an important game like our one on Sunday," Gasperini explained. "We're a long way from Argentina and sending there them there would have meant making them fly for a lot of hours so close to the match, and Roma preferred for that not to happen."

On Messi's farewell, he described it as 'emotional' and added: "Personally, I've seen lots of star players, initially as a player myself and then as a coach, but it's hard to think of anyone who's achieved what Lionel has. I'm sorry to see his career with the Albiceleste come to an end."

Messi's farewell to the Argentina national team is being shown on free-to-air television in his home country, meaning every fan will have access to the fixture.

It is a different story in the United States, though, where he currently plays his club football for Inter Miami. As per reports, it will only be available to watch via the Spanish-language streaming service ViX.

In the UK and Ireland, the match will be shown live on Premier Sports 2, a subscription service which starts at £13.99 per month.

Their opponents Benin are currently ranked at 89th in the FIFA world rankings, two places behind World Cup qualifiers New Zealand.

Former Huddersfield striker Steve Mounie is their current top scorer with 22 goals. Their all-time leading goalscorer, former Paris Saint-Germain, Sunderland and West Brom attacking midfielder Stephane Sessegnon, retired in 2023.

Topics: Lionel Messi, Argentina, Paulo Dybala

Ryan is a Journalist for SPORTbible who specialises in football, Formula 1, cricket and darts coverage. As a lifelong Preston North End fan, he's sadly still waiting to watch his team play in the Premier League. He has previously written for GiveMeSport, SPORF and the Lancashire Post.

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