Messi's 208th and final cap: two assists, a penalty and a 3-0 win over Benin

Argentina beat Benin 3-0 at a full Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires on Tuesday night, and Lionel Messi's 208th and final cap was one of the most productive of his career: two assists and a goal. 1 He played the whole match, all 95 minutes of it, 21 years after his debut. 2 Kick-off was 07:00 on Wednesday in Shanghai, and the referee, Fernando Véjar of Chile, ended it at 09:28. 1

Benin held the first half at 0-0. Their goalkeeper Marcel Dandjinou saved from Messi twice, low from outside the box on six minutes and again from a free kick on 25, and on 31 minutes Messi arrived a fraction late on Lautaro Martínez's cross from the right and put the ball wide. 2 Argentina finished with 65 per cent of the ball and 19 shots to Benin's seven. 1

Three minutes after the restart Messi took a corner from the left and Nicolás Otamendi met it from close range to make it 1-0. 3 On 61 minutes he played the ball to Nico Paz, on the pitch two minutes in place of Rodrigo De Paul, and Paz shot left-footed from outside the box into the bottom corner. 12 On 71 he took a penalty himself, after Tamimou Ouorou brought down Agustín Giay, and put it high to the goalkeeper's left: his 126th and final goal for Argentina. 4 Eight minutes from time the substitute goalkeeper, Saturnin Allagbé, and a post denied him a second. 2

Nicolás Otamendi also retired from Argentina on Tuesday night, and scored the opening goal of it. He was booked on 44 minutes, met Messi's corner on 48, and came off on 52 to an ovation, Lisandro Martínez replacing him while the players around him stopped to salute him on his way. 123

Messi had already broken down once. On the bus to the stadium, with crowds lining the route, he cried and waved at them through the window. 2 Then, during the anthem, played by Fabio Santana, a veteran of the Falklands War, he stood with his three sons, Thiago, Mateo and Ciro, beside him and stopped singing. 5 Lionel Scaloni, standing next to him, welled up too. 5

When the stadium announcer read his name out — "for the last time wearing the number 10 shirt, our captain, the top scorer in the history of the Argentina national team" — the ground chanted it back at him. 6 On ten minutes the match stopped altogether: both teams stood still, several Benin players walked over to shake his hand, and the whole stadium stood with him. 6

He wore a shirt made for the night: two light blue panels with a white stripe between them and the Sun of May from the national flag in the centre, his name and number in gold, and a captain's armband in red and black, the colours of Newell's Old Boys, the Rosario club where he began. 7 The match ball carried the words "El último baile", the last dance. 7

After the final whistle the tributes went on. A drone display lit the sky above the stadium while Messi stayed on the pitch, the youngest players in the squad gathered around him. 2

Before kick-off, in a video published by Adidas, he had said his own goodbye. "The moment has come. I leave in peace, I gave everything. This shirt was my dream, my pride and my life. Thank you for loving me so much; I am going to miss you." 8

Ángel Di María, who played more matches beside Messi for Argentina than any other player, watched from a box in the stands. "I told him I was coming," he said. "I will watch from outside and enjoy this dance, like every Argentine." 9

Two hundred and eight caps and 126 goals, both Argentina records, spread over 21 years. 25 He goes with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Copa América of 2021 and 2024 and the 2022 Finalissima against Italy, and as Argentina's leading scorer, most-capped player and most prolific provider of assists. 8 His last competitive match for Argentina was July's World Cup final in the United States, which Spain won 1-0. 8

Messi's next match is with Inter Miami, at home to D.C. United when MLS resumes after the international break. 10 Argentina have two questions open: whether Scaloni signs the new deal he is negotiating, with his current contract running to 31 December, and who takes the number 10, which nobody wore while Messi was still playing. 11

A correction: the Oct. 4 brief gave Argentina's win over Burkina Faso as 6-0. The final score was 7-0, Giuliano Simeone scoring in the third minute of stoppage time. 13