Lionel Messi to end Argentina career after farewell match vs. Benin on Tuesday

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Lionel Messi will officially hang up his boots for the Argentina national team following a final farewell match against Benin on Tuesday, marking the end of a 21-year international career with La Albiceleste. The announcement closes a chapter defined by record-breaking production, tournament-defining leadership, and a long climb to senior titles that arrived across a span of nearly two decades.

Messi’s international debut came at 18 on August 17, 2005, when he replaced Lisandro López in Argentina’s 2-1 win over Hungary. According to the career timeline provided in the lead-up to his final match, the appearance lasted only 47 seconds and was followed by a dismissal—one of the earliest and most dramatic moments of his Argentina story.

Even with his debut interrupted quickly, Messi’s trajectory accelerated within a year. Less than a year later, he was selected for Argentina’s 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. The source notes that Messi appeared in three matches as Argentina were eliminated in the quarterfinals after a penalty shootout defeat to Germany, but his tournament arrival also included a standout debut contribution: he scored in a 6-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro, which made him Argentina’s youngest World Cup goalscorer.

While early World Cup success established Messi’s impact on football’s biggest stage, his senior international honours grew more slowly. In 2008, he added an Olympic gold medal in Beijing, leading a star-studded Argentina squad that included Ángel Di María, Sergio Agüero, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Mascherano, among others. The team’s run to the title is described as perfect at 6W-0D-0L, capped by a 1-0 win over Nigeria in the gold medal match.

Messi’s third World Cup appearance arrived in 2014 in Brazil, where the source describes it as his strongest World Cup performance to date. Wearing the captain’s armband for Argentina, he tallied four goals and one assist and guided the team to the final. Argentina ultimately lost 1-0 to Germany in extra time, but Messi received the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.

The path to Messi’s first senior men’s international title finally opened in 2021. The source explains that after reaching the Copa América final on multiple occasions without success, Messi and Argentina overcame the hurdle in the 2021 tournament by defeating Brazil 1-0. It also notes Messi finished with four goals and five assists and was named co-best player alongside Neymar.

A year later, Messi’s international career reached its highest point: the 2022 FIFA World Cup. At 35, after returning for a fifth World Cup, the source describes how he led Argentina to their first tournament title in 36 years, posting seven goals and three assists. The final is detailed as Argentina’s 4-2 penalty-shootout win over France after a 3-3 draw following extra time, including a brace by Messi.

In the wake of the World Cup triumph, the source ties Messi’s individual recognition to continued elite output. It states he was awarded a second Golden Ball, becoming the first player to win multiple World Cup Golden Ball awards, and later went on to claim his record eighth Ballon d’Or in 2023.

The international success extended beyond the World Cup. Fresh off the 2022 title, the source notes that Messi captained Argentina at the 2024 Copa América and led the team to another continental championship with a 1-0 extra-time win over Colombia in the final. That continued the theme of sustained influence across multiple years even as the tournament calendar moved into his late 30s and beyond.

The final phase of Messi’s international involvement was also framed as a return to the spotlight ahead of 2026. At 39, with four senior international trophies cited, the source reports that head coach Lionel Scaloni included Messi in his 2026 FIFA World Cup roster. It adds that Messi, playing for Inter Miami at the club level, delivered eight goals at the tournament, including a hat-trick in Argentina’s opening match against Algeria, and recorded four assists as La Albiceleste advanced to a second consecutive final. The source says Argentina fell to Spain in the final, but that Messi set multiple records during the competition.