Date, time, opponent and broadcast of Messi’s farewell match for Argentina in 2026 announced
Argentina's national team will play Lionel Messi's farewell match against Benin on the night of October 6-7. The match will start at 02:00 Moscow time in Buenos Aires.
Yulduz Salimov3 min read
On the night of October 6-7 Moscow time, Argentina's national team will play Lionel Messi's farewell match. The opponent will be Benin, and the match will take place in Buenos Aires at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, according to a correspondent.
When and where the match will be held
The match is scheduled to start at 02:00 Moscow time. The time difference between Buenos Aires and Moscow is six hours, so local Argentine time the match will begin at 20:00.
The Monumental is the home arena of the club River Plate and the largest stadium in Argentina, with a capacity of 85,000 people.
Argentina's opponent is Benin, which ranks 93rd in the FIFA ranking. Argentina and Benin have never played each other in a head-to-head match.
Broadcast and tickets
The live broadcast will be shown by Match TV and the VideoSports platform, and it will be available on the online cinema Kinopoisk. Before the game, a studio broadcast is expected, where experts will discuss Messi's international career.
Tickets for Messi's last match in the Argentina national team shirt sold out in two hours. Their prices ranged from 90,000 to 480,000 Argentine pesos — from 5,000 to 26,000 rubles.
Why the match will be a farewell
The match will be the last for Messi as part of the national team. The footballer announced his departure from the national team after the 2026 FIFA World Cup. At the end of summer, the Argentine wrote a touching letter about ending his performances for the national team.
"Chapters are closing, and this chapter causes me deep pain. I loved, love and will always love being in the national team. I gave everything. I have nothing more to give. Besides, there are very talented young players coming up behind me who deserve to be there. Thank you for all the love over these 20 years," Messi wrote.
For the match against Benin, Messi was given a special shirt: he will play the farewell game in a special kit with the golden number 10 and his surname. The number on the shirt is centered on the Sun of May — the symbol of Argentina.
"Last match… A shirt for life," Messi wrote about the design.
Messi's national team career in numbers
Lionel Messi debuted for the Argentina national team on August 17, 2005, in a friendly match against Hungary. Coming on as a substitute in the 64th minute, less than a minute later he received a straight red card for a rough foul and was sent off.
Since then, Messi has played 207 matches for Argentina, scoring 125 goals and providing 68 assists. With the national team, he became a world champion in 2022 and a two-time Copa América winner (2021, 2024). In addition, Messi is an Olympic champion in 2008 and a winner of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2005.
After the farewell match for Argentina, Messi will not end his career. He will leave the national team and continue playing in MLS with Inter Miami. Messi's contract with the club runs until the end of 2028.
Source: ria.ru
