Argentina vs Benin squads
The Argentina squad for the October window, including the Benin friendly on 6 October 2026, was published on 27 September. Benin’s official squad for this match is to be confirmed. Coaches: Lionel Scaloni for Argentina; Gernot Rohr is the Benin coach named on public team profiles, pending match-week confirmation.
| Fixture | Argentina vs Benin |
|---|---|
| Date | Tuesday, 6 October 2026 |
| Kick-off | 20:00 Argentina time (23:00 UTC) |
| Venue | Estadio Más Monumental, Buenos Aires |
| Competition | International friendly |
Argentina squad list
Clubs are the ones on that 27 September list. They can differ from an older season. Four players were tied to the Benin game only: Messi, De Paul, Lo Celso and Otamendi. Enzo Fernández was available for Burkina Faso and Benin, not for Bolivia. Foyth and Almada are injured and are not in the list.
Goalkeepers
Emiliano Martínez — Chelsea. Juan Musso — Atlético Madrid. Gerónimo Rulli — Manchester City. Santiago Beltrán — River Plate.
Defenders
Agustín Giay — Palmeiras. Leonardo Balerdi — Roma. Cristian Romero — Atlético Madrid. Lisandro Martínez — Manchester United. Facundo Medina — Bayer Leverkusen. Nicolás Tagliafico — Lyon. Román Vega — Zenit. Valentín Gómez — Real Betis. Tomás Palacios — Estudiantes. Nicolás Otamendi — River Plate (Benin match only).
Midfielders
Enzo Fernández — Manchester City. Alexis Mac Allister — Liverpool. Valentín Barco — Chelsea. Giovani Lo Celso — Real Betis (Benin match only). Exequiel Palacios — Ipswich Town. Rodrigo De Paul — Inter Miami (Benin match only). Nicolás Paz — Como. Franco Mastantuono — Fiorentina. Matías Soulé — Roma. Giuliano Simeone — Atlético Madrid. Nicolás González — Juventus. Gianluca Prestianni — Benfica. Equi Fernández — Bayer Leverkusen. Santiago Simón — Toluca. Tobías Andrada — River Plate. Leonel Flores — Boca Juniors.
Forwards
José Manuel López — Palmeiras. Santiago Castro — Roma. Julián Álvarez — Atlético Madrid. Lautaro Martínez — Inter. Lionel Messi — Inter Miami (Benin match only).
Key Argentina names for this match
Messi is the reason the stadium sold. He goes into this window as Argentina’s all-time leading scorer, with 125 goals in 207 appearances. If those figures were still current, and if he plays no game in between, Benin would be appearance 208. Treat the cap count as the public total, not a live official one. He plays his club football for Inter Miami. He is 39. A full match is possible and not promised.
Otamendi’s inclusion only for the last game was read in Argentina as a farewell of his own. De Paul, now listed at Inter Miami beside Messi, and Lo Celso at Real Betis, are the other two senior midfielders held back for the night. Around them, Álvarez and Lautaro are the scorers Scaloni can actually start without waiting for a one-off return. Emiliano Martínez remains the first-choice goalkeeper. The goalkeeper’s club was given as Chelsea in the 27 September list.
Benin: do not invent the 23
A confirmed Benin squad for Buenos Aires had not been set out in the articles used for this guide. Steve Mounié has been the long-standing reference forward and has been described as captain on public profiles. Rohr, a German coach, has been in the job since 2023 according to those profiles. Saturnin Allagbe is a goalkeeper who has featured in recent public squads. Those sentences are context so the away team is not a blank flag. They are not a call-up list for 6 October.
When the Benin federation publishes names, they should replace this section, with the date of the list. Until then the Benin news page is the right place for a short update, and this page should not grow a fantasy XI. Argentina’s group is long enough to preview the home bench. The away bench is not.
Coaches
Lionel Scaloni has been Argentina’s coach through the 2022 World Cup win and the 2026 final. The selection problem on 6 October is ceremonial and sporting at once: whom to start so the farewell looks like the team people remember, and whom to protect three days after Burkina Faso. Rohr’s problem is different. He has to decide whether the trip is a shop window or a damage-limitation plan. Neither plan is published. The predicted lineup is one reading of Scaloni’s list, labelled as a sketch.
Why the clubs look unfamiliar
Several clubs on the Argentina list are not the ones a reader memorised from 2024 or 2025. Emiliano Martínez is written at Chelsea, Cristian Romero at Atlético de Madrid, Enzo Fernández at Manchester City, That is the 27 September 2026 list. If a transfer moved again after that date, the club line is stale and this page should say so rather than silently blending two seasons. The same discipline applies to Benin: a club season squad is not a national-team call-up. That is why the away section stays short.
Questions people ask
Who is in the Argentina squad?
The 27 September 2026 list is published below, with the clubs given then.
Which players are only vs Benin?
Lionel Messi, Rodrigo De Paul, Giovani Lo Celso and Nicolás Otamendi were described as available only for the 6 October match.
Who coaches Benin?
Gernot Rohr is the coach on current public profiles. Confirm he is still in charge on match week.
Is the Benin squad confirmed?
No. Naming a full Benin 23 for this friendly would be a guess. A few public senior names are context, not a call-up.
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