Messi bids farewell to Argentina with a penalty in 3-0 win over Benin

A penalty. That's how it all ended. Lionel Messi placed the ball on the spot, took his run-up and drilled it into the top corner, unstoppable for the goalkeeper. With that goal, the last of his career in Argentina's shirt, a story that began nearly two decades ago came to a close.

The stage was Buenos Aires, where the Albiceleste routed Benin 3-0 in a friendly designed from the start as a tribute. This was no ordinary match: the call-up brought together teammates from that World Cup winning squad in Qatar 2022, all invited to send off together the captain who had led them to the top of the world.

Messi had announced his retirement from the national team after the World Cup final, and tonight served as a symbolic close to an unrepeatable chapter. The Rosario native, 39, leaves with 208 caps for the national team, the highest mark in the squad's history, and 126 goals, also an all-time record. Add to that another distinction that sets him apart from any other player: he is the only one to have started three World Cup finals.

A match with another unexpected protagonist

Before the final act, the man who threatened to steal the spotlight from Messi was another veteran: Nicolas Otamendi, 38, also playing his final match for the national team. The defender opened the scoring just after the start of the second half, finishing off a corner from Messi that Benin failed to clear. The second goal followed soon after, scored by Nico Paz, who found the net from the edge of the box in the 61st minute.

The first half had offered warning signs from both sides. Messi tested the goalkeeper early, but Benin's Marcel Dandjinou denied his shot in the 7th minute. Benin answered with a scare of their own: Aiyegun Tosin sent a volley just wide that nearly caught Argentina off guard. Messi tried again, first with a cross that flew just past the goal and then with another shot that missed the target around the 33rd minute. Before the break, Emi Martinez also had to step up to stop Junior Olaitan.

With the result already in hand, the perfect ending arrived. Ten minutes from time, a foul by Tamimou Ouorou on Agustin Giay gave away a penalty. That's when Messi stepped up to score his 126th goal, his last in the sky blue and white, before Dandjinou once again came up big to deny a shot from Leonel Flores in the closing minutes.

When the referee blew the final whistle, Messi took a moment to bid farewell to the crowd that had stood by him all night, in what was, without a doubt, the closing of an unrepeatable chapter for Argentine soccer.