beIN Sports to Air Lionel Messi's Argentina Farewell Against Benin Live

Lionel Messi's final appearance in an Argentina shirt is becoming a global television event, with beIN Sports confirming it will air the 6 October farewell against Benin live.

beIN adds to a growing global broadcast lineup

beIN Sports has announced it will broadcast Lionel Messi's final Argentina match live on 6 October, when La Albiceleste host Benin in an international friendly at the Estadio Más Monumental in Buenos Aires. The Qatari broadcaster's coverage takes the farewell to audiences across the Middle East and North Africa, underlining how far beyond Argentina the demand for this match reaches.

The news matters because farewells like this are rare in the truest sense. Messi announced his retirement from international football in late August, shortly after driving Argentina to the 2026 World Cup final, and the Argentine Football Association confirmed he would return for exactly one more appearance. That makes the Benin friendly a fixed, unrepeatable event — and broadcasters have responded accordingly.

With beIN on board, the farewell is now covered by major rights-holders on at least four continents, and more announcements are likely to follow in the final days before kick-off. For a friendly that carries no competitive stakes, the broadcast interest is extraordinary — a reflection of what the night represents rather than what is on the line.

How to watch in the Americas

In the United States, coverage of Argentina vs Benin comes via ViX and Prime Video, with kick-off set for 7pm ET on Tuesday, 6 October. That makes the match available to American viewers on streaming platforms rather than traditional cable, which has become the norm for international friendlies in the US market.

In Argentina itself, fans have the fullest coverage of all. The match airs live across Telefe and TyC Sports, with streaming options through MiTelefe, TyC Sports Play, Flow, DGO and Telecentro Play — so nobody in the country has an excuse to miss Messi's last dance on home soil.

Canadians are expected to follow the Prime Video route, while viewers in Mexico can turn to ViX Premium. The pattern is clear: wherever ViX and Prime Video hold South American football rights, Messi's farewell travels with them.

ZEE5 takes the farewell to India

Indian football fans will be able to watch Messi's final Argentina appearance live on ZEE5, the streaming platform announced. Kick-off for Indian viewers falls at 4:30am IST on Tuesday, 7 October — an early morning that will not deter Messi's vast following in the country.

ZEE5 has been expanding its football portfolio steadily, and the Argentina vs Benin fixture adds another high-profile property to a catalogue that already includes FIFA tournaments, the Bundesliga, Serie A and Italy's cup competitions. Announcing the deal, Zee Entertainment's Bavesh Janavlekar said moments like Messi's farewell carry significance well beyond the game itself, and that the platform was happy to bring the closing chapter of an extraordinary international career to audiences across India.

Why this friendly is unmissable

Strip away the broadcast deals and the occasion is simple: after 207 caps and 125 goals, Lionel Messi will wear the sky-blue and white one final time. Benin, remarkably, are not among the 44 national teams he has scored against — so the captain has a chance to add one last name to that list before the curtain falls.

The visitors, coached by former Nigeria boss Gernot Rohr and captained by ex-Huddersfield Town striker Steve Mounie, sit 89th in the FIFA rankings — a long way from Argentina's No. 2 spot. They arrive after a respectable Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign that included a draw with Burkina Faso and a win over Mauritania.

Argentina will open the October window without Messi, having already beaten Bolivia 4-0 in their first match since his retirement, before facing Burkina Faso on 3 October. All of it builds toward the evening of the 6th, when an 80,000-plus crowd at the Monumental is expected to say goodbye to the greatest player in the country's history.

A night built for the cameras

Messi's relationship with Argentina's fans was not always smooth — he was once lamented as a spectacular player who had not delivered a major trophy for his country. This decade changed everything: Copa América titles in 2021 and 2024 wrapped around the 2022 World Cup, plus two more World Cup final appearances in 2014 and 2026.

That arc is why broadcasters from Buenos Aires to Doha to Mumbai are treating 6 October as appointment television. The result of the friendly itself will barely matter. What matters is the last walk, the last number 10, and a farewell two decades in the making.

Check our TV guide page before matchday for the full confirmed list of broadcasters and streaming options in your region.

The broadcast picture at a glance

With days still to go before kick-off, the confirmed coverage already spans four continents — and more broadcasters are expected to announce their plans before the week is out. Here is how the world will watch Messi's final Argentina appearance:

• Middle East & North Africa: beIN Sports (live)
• United States: ViX, Prime Video
• Argentina: Telefe, TyC Sports — plus streaming on MiTelefe, TyC Sports Play, Flow, DGO and Telecentro Play
• India: ZEE5 (4:30am IST, 7 October)
• Canada: Prime Video | Mexico: ViX Premium

The breadth of the coverage says something about what this fixture has become. Friendlies are usually filler between tournament windows; this one is appointment television across the globe. Every broadcaster that has picked it up is selling the same thing: not a competitive match, but the final appearance of the player who defined an era.

For fans in regions still waiting for confirmation, the message is simple — check the listings, and check our TV guide page. Nobody should discover on the morning of 6 October that they missed the last dance.

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