Argentina fans descend on Buenos Aires for glimpse of Lionel Messi as legend prepares for final game for his country

DAILYMAIL.COM • 15h ago

By DANIEL MATTHEWS, US SENIOR SPORTS WRITER and ASSOCIATED PRESS 22:01 06 Oct 2026, updated 22:01 06 Oct 2026

Fans poured on to the streets of Buenos Aires on Tuesday ahead of Lionel Messi’s final ever game for Argentina.

The 39-year-old is set to bring the curtain down on his international career after 21 years, 125 goals, two Copa America titles and a World Cup victory.

In Messi’s 208th Argentina appearance, Lionel Scaloni’s team will take on West African minnows Benin but the otherwise-unremarkable friendly has become a seismic moment for Argentine soccer.

Messi will continue to play for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer but on August 31, he announced he would be retiring from international football.

That decision came just weeks after the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium near New York, where Spain beat Argentina and Messi’s World Cup journey ended in tears.

Tuesday’s friendly is being played at Estadio Monumental, the 85,000-seater home of River Plate, and pictures showed tens of thousands of fans crammed outside the stadium hours before kick off.

Some fans let off flares and carried giant banners in honor of their retiring hero, while others showed off Messi tattoos or painted images of the 39-year-old on their face.

The Argentine soccer federation has turned Tuesday’s game – Messi’s 208th for his country – into a national homage dubbed ‘the last tango.’

Around 85,000 tickets to Buenos Aires’ largest stadium sold out in 90 minutes, while members of Argentina’s 2022 World Cup-winning squad and their families were invited back to join the tribute.

Four years ago, Messi led Argentina to victory in Qatar, securing the country’s third World Cup triumph and landing the one trophy that had eluded him for so long.

That victory sparked remarkable celebrations back home and Tuesday’s farewell promises more emotional scenes on the streets of Buenos Aires.

Argentina scheduled low-budget friendlies against Bolivia, Burkina Faso, and Benin for the international break, but have so far refrained from playing Messi so he is fit for his swansong.

Argentinian TV network C5N tracked down members of the Benin squad walking around the capital city, and centre-back Tijani Mohamed said: ‘You don’t mark Messi. We are just going to enjoy this match.

‘I’m going to look at him like this: “Messi, you are God”‘

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