De Paul leads Messi tributes after Argentina farewell (Photos)

Lionel Messi brought the curtain down on his extraordinary Argentina career with a goal and two assists as the world champions defeated Benin 3-0 at a packed Estadio Monumental on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old, making his 208th and final appearance for the Albiceleste, created Argentina’s first two goals before converting a penalty in the 70th minute to score the final goal of a 21-year international career.

Nicolás Otamendi and Nico Paz were the other scorers.

The farewell goal was the 126th of Messi’s Argentina career, extending his record as the country’s leading scorer.

His final international appearance also left him Argentina’s most-capped player.

It was a fitting ending to a journey that began on March 1, 2006, when Messi scored his first senior international goal against Croatia in Basel, Switzerland. Argentina lost that friendly 3-2, but the teenager had announced the arrival of a player who would eventually become the most prolific goalscorer in the nation’s history.

From Croatia to Benin, Messi scored 126 goals in 208 appearances.

His goals came across every major stage of international football: 21 at World Cups, 14 at Copa América tournaments, 36 in World Cup qualifying and 55 in official friendlies.

He scored in five World Cup editions, including seven goals during Argentina’s triumphant 2022 campaign and eight more at the 2026 tournament.

Some of the defining moments came in the biggest matches. Messi scored twice against France in the 2022 World Cup final, helping Argentina win the trophy on penalties after a 3-3 draw in Qatar.

FIFA named him the tournament’s Golden Ball winner.

His international honours extended beyond the World Cup. Messi won the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 2005 and Olympic gold with Argentina in 2008, before finally ending his senior trophy drought with the Copa América in 2021.

He then added the Finalissima in 2022, the World Cup in Qatar later that year and another Copa América title in 2024.

The 2021 Copa América triumph was particularly significant, ending Argentina’s 28-year wait for a major senior international trophy.

Messi captained the side to a 1-0 victory over Brazil in the final at the Maracanã. Three years later, Argentina retained the continental crown by beating Colombia 1-0 in Miami.

Before Tuesday’s farewell, Messi had already confirmed his retirement from international football in August, saying the decision was painful but that he believed the time had come.

At the Monumental, his final act was not merely a goal.

It was a final contribution to every Argentina goal of the night — a fitting snapshot of a player whose international story began with a strike against Croatia and ended, more than two decades later, with a penalty against Benin.

Photos