Lionel Messi farewell: Argentina invites superstar to play final match on Oct 6

Weeks after his retirement announcement, Argentina have invited Lionel Messi for a final appearance in a friendly next month. (AP Photo)

Nearly a fortnight after announcing his retirement, Argentina superstar Lionel Messi has been invited to wear the Albiceleste shirt one final time before ending his international career.

Argentina Football Association (AFA) ⁠president Claudio Tapia on Tuesday confirmed that their talismanic forward has been invited to make a farewell appearance during one of the friendly games in the forthcoming October window.

“We invited the best player in the world ‌to play, the icon of our team, our captain Lionel Messi, to have a ‌deserved farewell on October 6, here ⁠in Argentina,” Tapia said on social media.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup runners-up are scheduled to play three home friendlies in the window, with Messi expected to feature in the match against Benin on October 6 in Buenos Aires.

Lionel Scaloni’s squad list for the upcoming friendlies 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/lAnthh9tnQ

— Selección Argentina in English (@AFASeleccionEN) September 15, 2026

Argentina will also meet Bolivia at Córdoba’s Mario Kempes Stadium on September 30 before moving to Buenos Aires to host Burkina Faso on 3 October.

“Footballers Messi, [Rodrigo] De Paul and [Giovani] Lo Celso will be in attendance to take part in the final friendly on 6 October. ​Meanwhile, the names of the players called up from the local league will be announced on Friday,” the AFA said in a statement announcing the squad.

Messi announced his second retirement from international football on August 31. The first was in the minutes after Argentina’s loss to Chile in the 2016 Copa America Centenario Final. However, Messi reversed that decision and went on to have his most succesfull period with Argentina.

He further said that he has now made it public in the wake of his father Jorge’s death earlier last month.

Story continues below this ad

“After all this time that has passed since the final, and after much thought, I want to announce to everyone that I am retiring from the National Team…” said Messi in the statement, which he posted on his Instagram account.

“It was a decision that hurt, and still hurts, to my core, but I understand that it’s the right time. I swear that I always gave my all, not just in the last few years when we won everything, but before that too. I always fought and gave everything for this jersey, to bring you joy and make you proud to be Argentinian through football.

The 39-year-old had spearheaded Argentina’s march to a second successive World Cup final, breaking numerous records along the way. Messi racked up eight goals and two assists during the tournament, as Argentina finished behind Spain in the final.

Considered by many as the greatest football player of all time, Messi will bow out as Argentina’s record highest goalscorer and the player with the most appearances for the national team, both by some distance. He has scored 125 goals in 207 appearances.

Story continues below this ad

He won his first major international trophy when La Albiceleste won the 2021 Copa America. The next year, he played a pivotal role in Argentina’s run to victory in the 2022 World Cup. It ended a nearly four-decade wait for Argentina to win the trophy and Messi became the third Argentinian captain to have led them to victory in the World Cup Daniel Passarella (1978) and Diego Maradona.