Buenos Aires is preparing for a night of farewell at the Monumental, where Lionel Messi is due to wear Argentina’s captain’s armband for the final time. The 38-year-old arrived at the AFA training centre in Ezeiza on Sunday after travelling from Rosario, joining Lionel Scaloni’s squad ahead of Tuesday’s friendly against Benin.
The match, scheduled for 6 October, will bring Messi’s last Argentina camp to a close. He returns after missing the previous international-window games against Bolivia and Burkina Faso, and will have two training sessions with the group before the Benin fixture.
Rodrigo De Paul, Giovani Lo Celso and Nicolás Otamendi were among the established internationals reporting alongside their captain. Sunday’s programme includes an afternoon session followed by the customary squad barbecue, with Leandro Paredes also expected to attend despite his suspension.
A final gathering in Ezeiza
The mood around the camp is centred on giving Messi time and company during the closing days of an international career that has reshaped Argentina’s modern footballing history. He goes into the occasion with 207 appearances, 125 goals and four trophies for his country.
Emiliano Martínez captured the feeling within the squad when he said the players would try to “look after him in the little time he has left.” The goalkeeper has played 55 matches alongside Messi for Argentina and shared four title-winning finals with him.
Demand for tickets in the capital has exceeded expectations, reflecting the scale of the occasion for supporters who have followed Messi from his early years with the senior side to the World Cup triumph. Scaloni has acknowledged that Argentine football faces a difficult transition when its defining player finally steps away.
The Monumental’s farewell
Argentina and Benin will meet at the Estadio Monumental on Tuesday, with kick-off set for 17:00 Central Mexico time. The Argentine Football Association has invited World Cup winners and their families as part of the tribute planned around Messi’s final national-team appearance during the FIFA window.
For one more evening, the familiar route from Ezeiza to Núñez will carry a generation of Argentina players towards a stadium that has witnessed so much of their captain’s story. This time, the gathering is not merely another international fixture: it is the final chapter of Messi’s time in the blue and white.
