Meet Benin: Messi's Final Opponents Tonight

Argentina's farewell party has an uninvited guest with competitive ambitions: Benin's Cheetahs, coached by Gernot Rohr, arrive in Buenos Aires top of their AFCON qualifying group and insisting they will not be mere spectators.

The Cheetahs land in Buenos Aires

Benin officially call themselves Les Guépards — The Cheetahs — after changing the nickname from the Squirrels in 2022. Ranked 89th in the world against Argentina's second place, they are the most unlikely opponents for the most famous farewell in South American football history.

Tonight's friendly at the Estadio Más Monumental will be the first senior meeting between Argentina and Benin — officially confirmed by the Argentine Football Association — which also means Messi has never faced them, let alone scored against them.

Whatever the ceremonial occasion demands, Benin have not flown across the Atlantic to play the role of extras. They are in the middle of a serious competitive campaign and arrive with form, organization and a manager who knows this stage.

Gernot Rohr's project

Benin have been led since 2023 by Gernot Rohr, the veteran coach who took Nigeria to the 2018 World Cup and third place at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Rohr's side are playing competitive football with real stakes: in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, opened last month, Benin sit top of Group F on four points after a 1-1 draw away to Burkina Faso and a 2-1 home win over Mauritania, sealed by Rodolfo Aloko's brace.

Speaking to Reuters before the trip, Rohr struck a respectful but competitive tone: "We're going to have a bit of a party with Messi. But we'll still try to play the role of party poopers a little, because that also gives us some enjoyment. We're not going there to concede a lot of goals."

His rebuilding project has already produced one of the great African near-misses of recent years — more on that below — and Rohr has repeatedly shown he can make limited resources awkward for giants.

So close to the World Cup

Benin's recent history deserves more attention than the rankings suggest. In qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, the Cheetahs led CAF Group C going into the final matchday — ahead of both South Africa and Nigeria — before a 4-0 defeat in Uyo to the Super Eagles ended the dream. They finished third on 17 points, missing even the inter-confederation play-offs on goal difference.

Along the way they beat Nigeria 2-1 in Abidjan in June 2024 and won 1-0 away in Rwanda, with Tosin Aiyegun scoring the late winner. At the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, Benin beat Botswana, lost to Senegal and pushed Egypt to extra time in a 3-1 knockout defeat.

The squad blends Europe-based experience with emerging talent: captain Steve Mounié, the 32-year-old former Huddersfield striker now at FC Augsburg, is the most recognizable name; Aiyegun and Aloko provide the goals; and 28-year-old goalkeeper Marcel Dandjinou has established himself as Benin's first-choice keeper after moving to Kruger United in South Africa.

The goalkeeper with a message

Dandjinou will be the busiest Benin player tonight — the man standing between Messi and a storybook goal in his 208th and final cap. Ahead of the match he gave a defiant interview to Marca, insisting Benin had not come for the occasion.

"We are not here to be tourists in Argentina; we are here to play and to compete," Dandjinou told the Spanish outlet. "We are here to defend Benin. This is football: eleven players against eleven. We can win, or draw, or they can win, but it is football."

He was honest about the emotion of the night too: "For me, this match is not like any other match. I think it is an opportunity that will not come again, because it is Messi's last match. It is a special match... For me, Messi is one of football's legends. We grew up watching him play." And he closed with a line that captures the evening perfectly: "It will be a great day in our lives."

Why Benin could make this a contest

The mismatch is real — Argentina beat Burkina Faso 7-0 in the same window without Messi — but Benin's record suggests they do not roll over. They held their nerve in hostile qualifiers across Africa, they sit top of a competitive AFCON group, and their squad has genuine defensive organization under Rohr.

The occasion will also carry its own danger for Argentina. With a sold-out Monumental demanding tributes, speeches and ceremony, the home side's focus may be elsewhere in the opening minutes — exactly the moments organized underdogs live for.

Benin know nobody expects them to win. That, plus a coach who has made a career of frustrating favorites and a goalkeeper determined to deny Messi his farewell goal, makes them a more interesting final opponent than the rankings imply.

A night bigger than the result

For most of Benin's squad, this is the biggest night of their careers: 85,000 people, the world's cameras, and the last-ever Argentina appearance of the greatest player many of them grew up watching.

Rohr's players will get their party with Messi — the pre-match tributes, the applause, the history. But if the Cheetahs' manager means what he told Reuters, the party will be followed by 90 minutes of genuine football. For a farewell that deserves a worthy opponent, that might be the best tribute of all.

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