'Grateful, proud and at peace' - emotional Lionel Messi plays final Argentina game

Lionel Messi says he is "grateful, proud and at peace" after his glittering Argentina career ended with a goal against Benin on an emotional night in Buenos Aires.

The 39-year-old, playing his 208th and final international game, converted a second-half penalty and registered two assists in a comfortable 3-0 friendly win.

Messi, who announced his international retirement in August, was playing his first game for Argentina since the death of his father, Jorge, aged 68, following a long illness.

After the match, he addressed the crowd with a speech spanning nearly 10 minutes, with some of his teammates - including Manchester City's Enzo Fernandez - in tears as Messi admitted he did not want to leave the field.

"There are so many emotions going through me right now," he said. "I'm surely forgetting many things I would like to say because this is a very difficult moment for me. The first person who comes to my mind is my dad.

"I leave grateful, proud and at peace. Thank you for everything."

Messi played the full 90 minutes before the 85,000-strong sell-out crowd inside the Monumental were treated to a laser light show, live music and presentations.

When he made his announcement in August, Messi said the decision to retire "hurt" but that "the time has come".

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner said he had written his retirement message on 21 July, two days after Argentina lost to Spain in this summer's World Cup final.

Messi made his debut for Argentina in 2005 as a 63rd-minute substitute in a 2-1 friendly win over Hungary. However, he was shown a straight red card less than a minute later, after he swung his arm and his elbow connected with full-back Vilmos Vanczak.

Despite his tough start on the international stage, Messi went on to become one of the all-time greats, winning the World Cup and two Copa América titles with Argentina.

He is the second-highest goalscorer in World Cup history, with 21, behind France's Kylian Mbappe (22), and second for goals in all internationals (126) behind his great contemporary and rival, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (146).

"I have nothing left to do but thank this shirt," continued Messi.

"For 20 years, even through the worst moments, I never stopped fighting, pushing forward, giving everything I had and wanting to be here.

"Not coming here anymore and no longer being with the Argentina national team is going to hurt a lot. If it were up to me, I would love to be here for my entire life, because playing for Argentina is the most beautiful thing there is.

"I think I'm talking more than ever today because I simply don't want this moment to end.

"But I think the time has come for me to retire. The last World Cup took a lot out of us after everything we went through. We arrived in the final with just enough left in us, but we fought until the very end, like we always did.

"We came very close to winning it again, and despite everything that was said about us, nothing strange happened. The match against England took a lot out of us because we gave absolutely everything.

"In 2022, we had the dream of fulfilling not only my dream, but the dream of an entire country: becoming world champions again. And we did it."

Messi's career will continue at club level with Major League Soccer team Inter Miami, with whom he has a contract that runs to the end of the 2028 season.

On a night of celebrations from start to finish in the Argentine capital, Messi was often seen to be visibly moved by the occasion.

The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward was filmed wiping away tears on the coach's journey to the ground and again appeared overcome by emotion during a rousing rendition of the country's national anthem.

Before kick-off, a spectacular firework display greeted the players on to the pitch, while a giant Argentina shirt - bearing Messi's iconic number 10 and the word 'gracias' (thank you) - was sprawled across the field.

Ten minutes into the game, play was then brought to a halt for yet more fireworks, another standing ovation for Messi and handshakes from every Benin player.

Once the fanfare subsided, Messi was typically at the heart of everything going forward for Argentina, seeing two free-kicks well saved, twice missing glorious chances from inside the six-yard box and then hitting the post in the closing stages.

Image source: Reuters

Image source: Reuters

Image source: Getty Images

Image source: Getty Images

Image source: Reuters

Image source: Getty Images

• 'The world thanks you for everything you did for football'

"It's been a dream come true. I never thought I'd be the coach of the best footballer in history," Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni said after the game.

"We are eternally grateful to him for giving us the opportunity to be with him.

"The tears are because so many things are going through my head. Not seeing him anymore will be sad. He leaves us with an incredible legacy.

"The feeling of having him (Messi) on your side is incomparable. I've never seen that aura in anyone else in my life."

Brazil forward and Messi's former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain teammate Neymar wrote on X: "It's not just Argentina that thanks you, the world thanks you for everything you did for football.

"Thank you for making me love football even more; it was an honour to have played against you and even more so to make history by your side."

Rodrigo De Paul, Messi's close friend and a teammate at both international and club level, said: "He made me grow not only as a footballer, but also as a person.

"I became a better person, a better human being, a better athlete, a better father and a better friend.

"I want to tell him that I love him. He knows that he is my brother and that he has an enormous heart."

Ex-Argentina team-mate Angel di Maria said: "Seeing him with so much happiness, and that tranquillity of knowing that he gave everything he had, is what makes us all happy.

"I thank him for life."