Messi reveals Argentina shirt for farewell match vs Benin

Lionel Messi has published the shirt Argentina will wear for his farewell match, against Benin at the Monumental in Buenos Aires on 6 October. The 39-year-old posted a video on Instagram of himself preparing his boots and changing from one shirt into another.

"Last match… A shirt for life," Messi wrote beneath it.

On the commemorative kit, his surname and the number 10 are in gold. The number is framed by the Sun of May, the symbol on the Argentine flag. Mundo Deportivo reports that the AFA will put the shirt on sale.

Messi announced his international retirement on 29 August, after more than 20 years with the national team. He played 207 times for Argentina and scored 125 goals, second on the all-time international list behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 146 in 233 matches for Portugal. His honours include the 2022 World Cup, the Copa América in 2021 and 2024, and the Finalissima. He has not played for Argentina since the 0:1 defeat by Spain in the World Cup final this summer.

Benin is the last of three friendlies in this international window, after Bolivia and Burkina Faso. AFA president Claudio Tapia has confirmed that the players who won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will attend with their families.

The AFA has already said it will stop every match in the country in the 10th minute for a minute of applause in Messi's honour.

Messi will go back to Inter Miami afterwards. The club are third in the Major League Soccer table with 46 points from 26 games, and he leads their scorers with 19 goals. Once the Benin game is over, that is the only shirt he will be playing in.