Lionel Messi Previews Last Argentina Match With Tear-Jerking Eight-Word Message

Argentina’s friendly with Benin is less an international fixture and more a thinly veiled testimonial for Lionel Messi.

There will be barbecues, cuddles and fights for his last jersey—and that’s just from the Benin players. A decade after he first called it quits for Argentina, Messi will definitively sign off on Tuesday night having finally scaled the peaks which had eluded him for so much of his international career.

As the end hurtled over the horizon, the World Cup winner and two-time Copa América champion didn’t fret about any missed titles or trinkets, it was the simplicity of training which saw him to comment: “Momentos especiales que sé que voy a extrañar...”, “Special moments that I know I’m going to miss...”

Lionel Scaloni has effectively encircled Messi with a group of energetic disciples. Enzo Fernández may have twice commanded transfer fees in excess of £100 million but he is still that 15-year-old kid who pleaded on Facebook for his idol to overturn his first international retirement in 2016. Julián Alvarez is a striker half of Europe tried to sign this summer yet he still selflessly does all of Messi’s running for him with the enthusiasm of that young boy who asked his compatriot for a selfie.

Argentina may have a complicated international reputation after some of its conduct during the World Cup, but the internal bond between those individuals is fearsome—if anything, the criticism has driven them closer together.

Never again appearing on the game’s global stages will undoubtedly hurt, but it’s those small details, sharing a mate tea, playing a game of cards, laughing at Rodrigo De Paul getting nutmegged, those “special moments” which Messi is “going to miss.”

Scaloni Makes Bold Prediction for Argentina Post-Messi

Lionel Scaloni looking stern. — Lionel Scaloni has been at the helm for Lionel Messi’s greatest moments. | Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images

Lionel Scaloni has experienced a reality without Messi before. When the accidental manager was first foisted into the vacant hot seat after Jorge Sampaoli’s hurried exit in the wake of the 2018 World Cup, the team’s captain did not immediately make himself available for that year’s remaining friendlies.

Scaloni, thrown in at the deep end of his first ever senior management position, leaned upon a young core of new call-ups who strung together four wins from those first six fixtures. It was enough to convince Messi to return, but Argentina hasn’t exactly been hopeless during his various absences over the last eight years.

Argentina’s Record Without Messi Under Scaloni

Statistic	Total	Average
Games	27	–
Wins	21	77.8%
Draws	3	11.1%
Losses	3	11.1%
Goals For	63	2.3
Goals Against	11	0.4
Goal Difference	+52	1.9

In fact, one of Argentina’s greatest performances during Scaloni’s trophy-laden reign actually came in Messi’s absence. A blur of attacking fluidity demolished Brazil 4–1 in the qualifier which booked the nation’s passage to the 2026 World Cup. “We gave them a show,” Alvarez smiled after kickstarting the destruction in the fourth minute. It was such a seismic thumping Brazil captain Marquinhos felt compelled to apologize for the “humiliating” loss.

While making sure to pay tribute to his namesake, Scaloni struck a confident tone when reflecting on life after Messi. “The Argentine national team will endure,” the manager who is set to sign a contract extension through the 2030 World Cup insisted. “We will remain at a high level, I have no doubt about that.”

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