Argentina vs Benin facts and stats

On the official FIFA list of 20 July 2026, Argentina are 2nd with 1970.37 points and Benin are 93rd with 1252.17 points. Spain lead that list. The match itself is a friendly on Tuesday 6 October 2026 at the Más Monumental in Buenos Aires, kick-off 20:00 local time, 23:00 UTC.

FIFA ranking

The numbers above are the last official list, dated 20 July 2026, after Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the World Cup final. Argentina had been 1st in the June list, before that final. Benin were 93rd in July, three places down from their June mark. FIFA’s next official update is 7 October 2026, the day after this friendly. A live table can shuffle Benin a few places after the September qualifiers. That live figure is not the official rank, so it is not printed here as one.

Messi’s numbers, and where they stop

Lionel Messi is Argentina’s all-time leading scorer, on 125 goals in 207 caps, and he plays his club football for Inter Miami. He was called only for the Benin match, not for Bolivia or Burkina Faso. If that stays true, the Monumental night is his 208th cap. If he appears earlier, the count changes and this line will change with it. Nothing here adds a goal against Benin. He has never played them.

Form you can count

Argentina’s last five completed matches were 3-1 Switzerland, 2-1 England and 0-1 against Spain in the World Cup final, then the October friendlies: 4-0 over Bolivia in Córdoba on 30 September and 7-0 over Burkina Faso at the Monumental on 3 October. Benin’s last five completed matches were 1-0 Liberia, 1-0 Guinea, 1-5 Togo, 1-1 Burkina Faso and 2-1 Mauritania.

Stadium and tickets, as figures

The Más Monumental holds about 85,000. Deportick sold the Benin allocation, and it sold out. The AFA price card ran from ARS 29,000 for a child popular ticket (ages 3 to 10) to ARS 480,000 for the top platea, before the service fee. Adult popular seats were ARS 90,000. Those are September prices, not a live till.

Facts that are still open

The referee is to be confirmed. The starting XIs are to be confirmed. Possession, shots and cards do not exist yet. A weather line for the night is not a fact until a forecast is issued for 6 October. Friendly matches do not always carry the same ranking weight as World Cup games, so the 7 October list may move these places by less than a competitive week would. Leave 2nd and 93rd in place, with the date 20 July beside them, until that list is out.

The three games around this one

Benin are the third opponents of the window, not the first. Argentina play Bolivia on 30 September in Córdoba, then Burkina Faso on 3 October at the Monumental, then Benin on 6 October in the same stadium. Messi, Rodrigo De Paul, Giovani Lo Celso and Nicolás Otamendi were named for the Benin match only. Juan Foyth and Thiago Almada are out of the whole window with injuries. Those absences are facts about the squad, not a predicted XI.

The ranking gap on the July list is 718 points, 1970.37 against 1252.17. That is a wide gap. It is not a goal difference. Benin scored in both September qualifiers, including the winner in a 2-1 over Mauritania, so the away side are not a team that has forgotten where the goal is. The referee, the kits, and the minute Messi comes on are still to be confirmed. Put those in only when they are announced.

Two ranks that look similar are not the same fact. “Argentina 1st” was true on the June list, before the final. “Argentina 2nd” is the 20 July list, and it is the one to quote until 7 October. Mixing those dates is how a preview ends up with two different tables.

Conclusion

The stats that are real today are the date, the 20:00 kick-off, the stadium, a first-ever meeting, and a July ranking gap of 2nd against 93rd. Everything else waits for the teamsheet or the final whistle.

Questions people ask

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