Buenos Aires is preparing to bid farewell to Lionel Messi with the city already wrapped in his image. From the broad sweep of Avenida 9 de Julio to the underground platforms of Line D, the Argentina captain’s World Cup legacy has become part of the capital’s daily geography before his final national-team appearance at the Monumental.
Messi will play Benin in an international friendly on Tuesday at the Monumental in Núñez, with kick-off set for 20:00 Brasília time. Tickets have sold out for a stadium undergoing work aimed at a 101,000-capacity crowd.
Quick facts
- Argentina face Benin at the Monumental in Buenos Aires on Tuesday.
- The match is billed as Messi’s final appearance for Argentina’s senior side.
- All tickets for the farewell fixture have been sold.
- A 35-metre mural, “Puño en alto”, stands near Avenida 9 de Julio.
- Buenos Aires created a World Cup urban-art route in December 2025, linking sites in the centre, Palermo and San Telmo.
The most imposing tribute watches over the city from a building close to Avenida 9 de Julio. Martín Ron’s 35-metre “Puño en alto” shows Messi wearing Argentina’s armband, his fist raised in celebration.
Unveiled in December 2023, on the first anniversary of Argentina’s World Cup triumph, the work draws on Messi’s celebration after scoring against Mexico in Qatar. That 2-0 victory followed the opening defeat to Saudi Arabia and became a decisive moment in Argentina’s route to the third World Cup title.
Messi’s presence is not limited to vast exterior walls. José Hernández station on Buenos Aires’ D metro line received an artistic intervention dedicated to him in 2015, before the senior Argentina side had ended its long wait for major silverware.
The station’s hall and platform have since been updated with further references to the forward. When the original project appeared, Messi was still associated with near-misses in Argentina colours; the Copa América of 2021, the 2022 Finalissima, the World Cup and another Copa América in 2024 followed.
In the tourist streets of Caminito, the captain’s face fills souvenir stalls through figurines, cups, pictures and World Cup-themed items. Murals show him with the trophy, while life-size sculptures have become regular stops for visitors seeking a photograph alongside Argentina’s No. 10.
Palermo offers a meeting point between the country’s two defining No. 10s. At Gurruchaga and El Salvador, Mauricio Pepey’s “Maradona + Messi (II)” places Diego Maradona beside Messi, joining the leaders of the 1986 and 2022 World Cup victories, 36 years apart.
Elsewhere in the district, the junction of Darwin and Gorriti is known as “La esquina Messi”. Maxi Bagnasco’s mural there depicts the captain lifting the World Cup, amid a wider cluster of street art recalling Argentina’s Qatar campaign.
One nearby piece returns to the 122nd minute and 43rd second of the final against France, marking Emiliano Martínez’s extra-time save from Randal Kolo Muani. It is one of many reminders that the 2022 victory remains fixed in the city’s visual memory.
Buenos Aires formally grouped several of the leading murals into an urban route in December 2025, crossing central districts as well as Palermo and San Telmo. On Tuesday, that landscape of tributes will lead toward Núñez, where Messi’s Argentina farewell is set to be played in front of a full Monumental.
