Lionel Messi will wear the Argentina shirt for the last time this Tuesday, against Benin at the Monumental. The match has been organised by the AFA as a tribute to a captain whose senior international career has spanned more than two decades, and it carries a title that captures the mood better than any statistic: “The night no one wants to end.” Messi arrives at the farewell with 207 appearances, 125 goals and 66 assists for the senior national team in official AFA records, and his participation in the tribute will take his total to 208 caps.
The story began as a warning about how unpredictable that relationship would be. On 17 August 2005, a few weeks after playing the U-20 World Cup, Messi made his senior debut against Hungary in Budapest. José Pekerman sent him on in the 63rd minute, Messi received the ball, Vilmos Vanczak grabbed his shirt, and the Argentine swung his arm to break free. The referee read it as aggression and showed him a red card. Only 47 seconds had passed. FIFA still recalls the episode as one of the strangest international beginnings a superstar has ever had.
The first trophies came with the youth sides. At 18, Messi had already signalled what he could become at the 2005 U-20 World Cup, where he scored six goals, netted both of Argentina’s in the final against Nigeria, and finished the tournament with the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball. Three years later, in Beijing, he won Olympic gold in a squad of enormous stature that also included Sergio Agüero, Ángel Di María, Javier Mascherano and Juan Román Riquelme. Transferring that habit of winning to the senior team, however, would take far longer.
Brazil 2014 was his first real chance to touch glory with the Albiceleste. Messi scored four goals in the group stage, including the dramatic strike against Iran and a brace against Nigeria, and in the round of 16 he set up Ángel Di María for the goal that eliminated Switzerland. Argentina got past Belgium and the Netherlands to reach a first World Cup final in 24 years, with Messi established as the team’s offensive reference. At the Maracanã they lost 1-0 to Germany through Mario Götze’s goal in extra time, after several chances to take the lead. Messi finished with four goals, one assist and the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player, but the image that endured was another one: walking just a few centimetres from the trophy before collecting his award.
The blow was heavier still two years later. Argentina lost the 2016 Copa América Centenario final to Chile, Messi missed his penalty in the shootout and, devastated, said: “It’s over for me with the national team.” It was his fourth lost final with Argentina. That goodbye lasted barely 66 days. After a conversation in Barcelona with Edgardo Bauza, the new Argentina coach, Messi returned against Uruguay, scored the winning goal and once again took the lead of the Albiceleste.
The wildest chapter came in October 2017. Argentina were on the ropes in the qualifiers for Russia 2018, started by falling behind to Ecuador in Quito, and Messi responded with a hat-trick that carried the team to the World Cup.
The turning point arrived on 10 July 2021. Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 at the Maracanã through an Ángel Di María goal and Messi won his first major title with the senior national team, ending 28 years without one. This time he did not walk past someone else’s trophy or sit alone after a defeat; he dropped to his knees on the grass and within seconds his team-mates ran to him. A year later came the Finalissima against Italy at Wembley, won 3-0, confirming that the Copa América had not been an isolated episode. Lionel Scaloni’s side had found an identity, and Messi, surrounded by a generation that had grown up admiring him, seemed to play freed from the burden he had carried for most of his career.
Then came Qatar 2022. Argentina opened with an unexpected defeat to Saudi Arabia and were staring into the abyss again, but Messi scored against Mexico, the team reacted, and a run began that became one of the most extraordinary stories in World Cup history. He scored in the round of 16 against Australia, in the quarter-finals against the Netherlands, in the semi-finals against Croatia and twice against France in the final. Argentina survived a 3-3 draw and won on penalties in what is regarded as one of the best finals ever played. At 35, in his fifth World Cup, the captain finally lifted the trophy he had chased his whole life, finishing with seven goals and the award for the tournament’s best player. The photograph of Messi kissing the World Cup abruptly ended years of debate about his relationship with Argentina — the Maracanã in 2014, the finals against Chile, the 2016 retirement, and all the defeats that had been treated as a judgment on him.
At the 2024 Copa América, Argentina were crowned champions again after beating Colombia in Miami. Messi had to leave that final injured and in tears, a moment that showed how deeply the game reached him, and Lautaro Martínez appeared in extra time to hand the captain another continental title.
At 39, Messi decided to play the 2026 World Cup and defied logic once more. He scored eight goals, won the Silver Boot and led Argentina to another final. He did not score in the semi-final against England but provided both assists in a 2-1 comeback, with Enzo Fernández equalising in the 85th minute and Lautaro Martínez scoring the winning goal in the 90th. Spain prevented the perfect ending: Ferran Torres struck in the 106th minute of extra time and La Roja beat Argentina 1-0 in New Jersey. Messi ended his sixth World Cup with 21 goals in 34 World Cup matches and another final played. Weeks later, he announced his international retirement.
It could not end in New Jersey, far from home. That is why Argentina and the AFA organised this final match against Benin at the Monumental. More than two decades after the long-haired boy who walked off in tears after a red card 47 seconds into his debut, Messi will walk onto a pitch in the Argentina shirt one last time. There will be no other World Cup to chase, no other revenge to await and no unfinished final left behind. All that remains is to say goodbye.