Sports
Neymar bids farewell to Messi ahead of the Argentine's final national-team match
October 6, 2026 at 08:32 PM · Updated 10d ago
10 reports · over 6 hours
Neymar da Silva has paid tribute to Lionel Messi before the Argentine plays his last international match against Benin on Wednesday.
- Neymar said in an Instagram post that the whole world thanks Messi for everything he gave to football.
- Argentina host Benin at Monumental stadium in the early hours of Wednesday in Messi's final match for his country.
- Coach Lionel Scaloni said five stadiums could have been filled by supporters wanting to attend the match.
- The Argentine federation set up a fan zone named "Gracias, Leo" and invited the 2022 World Cup-winning squad.
- Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez debuted a haircut featuring the letter 'M' as a tribute to Lionel Messi ahead of his final Argentina match.
- Messi announced his retirement in an emotional Adidas video, saying he leaves in peace and calling the decision the saddest day of his life.
- Messi decided to retire after Argentina lost the 2026 World Cup final to Spain, a period that also included the death of his father Jorge.
- Messi ends his 22-year national-team career with 207 international caps, 125 goals and 68 assists.
- Argentina drew 0-0 with Benin in front of 85,000 fans at Buenos Aires' Monumental stadium in Messi's final match.
- Messi was seen in tears during the Argentine national anthem before the friendly match kicked off.
- The match kicked off at 2 AM after a half-hour delay from its scheduled start.
- A large center-field banner displaying Messi's number 10 jersey was shown to the crowd before the match.







