Lionel Messi concluded his 21-year international career in brilliant style. During the match held on Tuesday, October 6, in Buenos Aires against Benin, Argentina won 3-0. Messi made his last match unforgettable by scoring a goal and providing an assist.
In the 71st minute of the match, Messi converted a penalty and also provided an assist. Thus, in his final match for Argentina, he repeated what is known worldwide—scoring goals and creating opportunities for the team. During this game, Messi also appeared emotional; tears welled up when the Argentine anthem played, and he was seen wiping away tears on his way from the stadium.
Messi debuted for Argentina on August 17, 2005, in a match against Hungary. His international debut was quite dramatic: he received a red card just 90 seconds after stepping onto the field. However, after that start, Messi did not stop, scoring a flurry of goals. He said goodbye to the national team after 207 matches, in which he scored 126 goals.
In men's football, Messi was only surpassed by Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of international goals, with 126, while Ronaldo has 146. Another significant achievement in Messi's career is the record for assists: after adding one assist in the last match against Benin, his total number of international assists reached 66, which is the highest in men's international football.
The career of 39-year-old Messi was filled not only with personal records but also with historical successes for the team. He won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. After that, he won the Copa America title in 2021 and 2024. However, the biggest achievement of his career was 2022, when Messi helped Argentina become the FIFA World Cup champion. Furthermore, they won the Finalissima in 2022.
The 2026 World Cup became the last major tournament in Messi's international career. Although Argentina could not win the title and finished as silver medalists, Messi demonstrated magnificent play. In the tournament, he scored 8 goals and provided 4 assists. In World Cup history, Messi now has 21 goals, placing him second among players with the most goals in the tournament's history, behind Kylian Mbappé. Messi also entered history by participating in six World Cups alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi scored his first international goal for Argentina in a friendly match against Croatia. After that, he started a scoring streak that made him Argentina's greatest player. In 2012, he scored his first international hat-trick against Switzerland. After that, Messi scored another 10 hat-tricks, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo and accumulating a total of 11 international hat-tricks.