Argentina 3-0 Benin: Messi Scores in Final Argentina Match

Lionel Messi signed off from international football in style, scoring his 126th Argentina goal in a 3-0 friendly win over Benin at the Estadio Monumental on 6 October 2026.

A 3-0 win, and the goal everyone wanted

The occasion demanded one moment, and Lionel Messi delivered it in the 71st minute. Giay was brought down as he went for the ball in the Benin box, the referee pointed to the spot, and the number 10 walked up with the entire stadium holding its breath. He smashed the penalty past Marcel Dandjinou, and his teammates mobbed him in a group hug that jumped up and down around him while the broadcast cut to his wife and family celebrating in the stands.

It was his 126th Argentina goal, on his 208th and final appearance — both national records — and it made the night complete. Argentina had already broken through: Nicolas Otamendi's header in the 48th minute from a Messi corner, and a gorgeous Nico Paz left-footed curler tucked into the far post in the 61st. TheScore noted Messi set up both goals as well as scoring the third, the perfect one-man farewell ledger: two assists, one goal.

The 10th minute: a stadium stands as one

Before any of that, the night's most emotional pause came with barely a tenth of the game played. As the 10th minute arrived — his shirt number — play was halted so the entire Monumental, players included, could rise and applaud Messi's 21 years of service. He shook hands with several Benin players, then raised his hands above his head to thank a crowd that chanted "Ole, ole, ole, Messi, Messi" as he adjusted his captain's armband.

The tribute began before kickoff. Messi appeared to get emotional as the final lines of the Argentine anthem faded, and Lionel Scaloni had a tear rolling down his cheek while the anthem played. A giant "GRACIAS 10" jersey was stretched across the centre circle, thanking him for the World Cup, the two Copa Americas and everything in between. Benin captain Sessi D'Almeida, deputising for the injured Steve Mounie, presented Messi with gifts and explained each one to him before the toss. Emi Martinez even had an "M" cut into the back of his hair in tribute.

First half: Benin hold the line

For all the emotion, the football resisted the script for 45 minutes. Argentina dominated, as expected against the 89th-ranked side in the FIFA rankings, but Benin organised, fought and carried threat. Messi had four shots before the break, two on target — a left-footed effort turned away by Dandjinou in the 7th minute, a curling free kick saved in the 26th, a stretching touch that went wide in the 32nd, and a corner-kick routine that briefly looked like an Olimpico.

Benin had their moments too: a Junior Olaitan shot after an Aiyegun Tosin cross went close in the 19th minute, and Dibu Martinez had to race off his line to deal with a counter. TheScore's live blog summed it up at half-time: no goals in the first 45, Messi with multiple looks but nothing to show, Benin stemming the tide. Kickoff had already come 30 minutes behind schedule, but nobody was complaining.

Second half: the dam breaks

Three minutes after the restart, the story began. Messi's corner from the left found the head of Nicolas Otamendi, who nodded Argentina in front — and the 38-year-old centre-back, one of Messi's longest-serving teammates with more than 15 years together in the shirt, ran straight to lift up his old pal. One-nil, and the goal contributions were Messi's first of the night.

Four minutes later, Otamendi and Nicolas Tagliafico came off to huge ovations, the River Plate defender serenaded at his home ground. Then, in the 61st minute, the future arrived: Nico Paz, a minute after coming on, bent a left-footed curler into the far post to double the lead. The 22-year-old many expect to inherit the number 10 shirt had announced himself in the most fitting way, and Argentina had their cushion.

The penalty, and the ovation that followed

The night's headline moment followed the familiar shape of Messi's career: earn the chance, take the responsibility. Giay's driving run into the box won the penalty in the 69th minute, and Messi, whose spot-kick record has rarely been the strongest part of his game, did not hesitate. The strike past Dandjinou for number 126 sparked the kind of celebration no ordinary goal gets — a bouncing group hug from teammates and the stadium in delirium.

He nearly had a second in the 75th minute, meeting a cut-back with a right-footed poke that slid wide. Moments later, Benin changed their goalkeeper — Dandjinou off to a standing ovation of his own, Saturnin Allagbe on for the final stretch — and the game drifted towards its inevitable, emotional ending. The result mattered less than the image: Messi, captain's armband, family in the stands, the whole football world watching one last time.

What it all meant

Full time: Argentina 3-0 Benin. A friendly scoreline that will live in the record books as Messi's final line in international football: 208 appearances, 126 goals, three World Cup finals, one world title, two Copa Americas, and an assist for both of his team's first goals on his way out the door.

The night belonged to the spectacle as much as the sport — 85,000 at the Monumental, 2022 World Cup winners like Angel Di Maria on the touchline, Sergio Aguero watching from a box, a halftime performance honouring late rock pioneer Indio Solari — but it was really about one man. The boy from Rosario who once wondered if this country loved him back got his answer, in full voice, for 90 minutes and beyond. Messi’s farewell post via adidas Football put it simply — “thank you for loving me so much” — and the final whistle brought the kind of scene only a farewell earns: teammates lining up to embrace the man who made them all better, 85,000 voices refusing to let the night end.

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