Messi Calls Argentina Farewell the 'Saddest Day of My Career'

Lionel Messi bowed out of international football with a goal and two assists in Argentina's 3-0 win over Benin at the Monumental. In an emotional post-match speech, he called it the saddest day of his career and thanked the fans who carried him for 21 years.

The goodbye 85,000 fans will never forget

Lionel Messi brought the curtain down on his Argentina career the only way he knew how: involved in every goal as the Albiceleste beat Benin 3-0 at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires on 6 October 2026. In front of more than 85,000 supporters, the 39-year-old scored his 126th international goal and provided two assists on his 208th and final appearance.

The match was staged as a farewell celebration after Messi announced his international retirement in August, following Argentina's run to the 2026 World Cup final and the death of his father Jorge. Members of the 2022 World Cup-winning squad were invited back to take part in the occasion.

What the crowd got was far more than a friendly. The evening carried the weight of a state occasion, with tributes, tears and one last masterclass from the greatest player Argentina has ever produced.

"The saddest day of my career"

After the final whistle, Messi took to the pitch with a microphone and spoke directly to the Monumental. His address to the crowd was raw and unscripted, and its defining line will be quoted for years.

"Now, inevitably, I face the saddest day of my career: saying goodbye to the national team," he said, per ESPN. "Goodbye to all of you. I'm going to miss you; I'm going to miss defending the national team's colours, but now I'll be right there alongside you, supporting these guys and everyone who comes after them. Always, always united."

He had begun his farewell by thanking the fans for more than two decades of devotion. "It was a huge source of pride for me to defend this jersey for more than 20 years," he told the stadium. "Even in the worst moments we went through, and that I had, I never stopped fighting, never stopped being here."

"Not coming anymore is going to be deeply painful. I swear I'd like to play for the rest of my life, because playing for the Argentina national team is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you."

A perfect final performance

Remarkably for a match carrying such emotional weight, Messi produced a performance that summed up his entire international career. He was directly involved in all three goals, a detail confirmed by Inter Miami's match report.

After a goalless first half in which Benin goalkeeper Marcel Dandjinou frustrated the hosts, Messi's corner three minutes after the restart was met by Nicolás Otamendi, whose scissor-kick volley broke the deadlock. In the 61st minute, Messi slipped a pass to Nico Paz, who curled a beauty around the goalkeeper into the far top corner.

The moment tens of thousands had waited for arrived in the 71st minute. Tamimou Ouorou's clumsy challenge on Agustín Giay gave Argentina a penalty, and Messi blasted the spot-kick into the roof of the net for his 126th and final international goal. Dandjinou denied Leonel Flores late on, but the script was already written.

Two legends leave together

Messi was not the only icon saying goodbye. Nicolás Otamendi, the 38-year-old centre-back who opened the scoring with his volley, also played his final match for Argentina. The two golden-generation stalwarts shared a farewell that the 85,000 inside the Monumental will remember for decades.

Messi had assisted Otamendi's goal, fittingly passing the baton to his old defensive partner one last time. It was a detail that made the night feel complete: two careers ending together, on the same pitch, in the same celebration.

Tears, ovations and a solitary lap

The emotion inside the Monumental went far beyond the goals. Some team-mates, including Manchester City's Enzo Fernández, were in tears as Messi delivered his post-game speech. After just 10 minutes of play, the entire stadium had risen to applaud their record-breaking talisman, pausing the match for a standing ovation.

Messi said that returning to the Monumental was bittersweet. "I experienced one of the happiest days of my career here, the day we returned for our first match after the World Cup," he said. "I will never forget what I witnessed that day; it was the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me."

He finished the night with a solitary victory lap, cherishing the fans' final chants of "Messi, Messi" before leaving the pitch as an Argentina player for the last time.

21 years in blue and white

Messi ends his international career with 208 senior caps, the most of any player in Argentina's history, and his 126 goals are also a national record. Under his captaincy, Argentina ended a 28-year wait for silverware to claim back-to-back Copa América titles in 2021 and 2024, and won their first World Cup in 38 years in 2022.

His decision to retire, announced in August, followed an exhausting summer at the 2026 World Cup, where Argentina battled through to the final before losing to Spain. Despite the sadness of his farewell, Messi said he had no regrets about the timing. "Even though I want to be here all my life, I feel that this is the moment. The last World Cup was too much, everything I had to live through," he said.

His first thought, on the night it all ended, was for his father. "The first thing I think about is my old man," Messi said in quotes reported by the Argentine Football Association. "I can only express my gratitude; it was a tremendous honour to wear this jersey for over 20 years."

What comes next for Messi

Messi's international career is over, but his playing days are not. He will continue his club career with Inter Miami, and his farewell speech made clear he intends to remain close to the national team as its most famous supporter.

"Now I'll be on that side, with the fans, supporting all the boys, everyone who comes in. Always united," he said. The golden generation has left the pitch, but the greatest of them will be watching from the stands.

Questions people ask

Find where to watch the Argentina vs Benin Live stream in your country.