The farewell sold out in two hours, and Scaloni says he helped persuade Messi

Tickets for Lionel Messi's last Argentina match went on sale at 18:00 in Buenos Aires on Thursday and were gone by about 20:00, which is 07:00 Friday in Shanghai. Deportick, the AFA's ticketing platform, went down as buyers logged on, and the last seats for the Oct. 6 friendly against Benin at the Estadio Monumental were taken roughly two hours after the sale opened 1.

Thursday's sale covered both of Argentina's matches at the Monumental: Burkina Faso on Oct. 3 and Benin on Oct. 6, the night the AFA has built around Messi's farewell 2. Prices ran from 90,000 pesos in the popular section to 480,000 for a middle seat in San Martín or Belgrano, with children aged 3 to 10 at 29,000 in the popular section 1.

Buyers had to be registered on Deportick before they could join the queue, and each account could take up to four general tickets 3. Supporters with disabilities arrange admission during the general sale, and the AFA requires them to collect the ticket before matchday 1.

The farewell is the one match of Argentina's three October friendlies at a full house. A FIFA sanction halves capacity at Argentina's first two games of the window, against Bolivia on Sept. 30 and Burkina Faso on Oct. 3; the AFA was punished over the incidents that followed the World Cup final and the flag shown after the semi-final against England 45.

Lionel Scaloni took questions at Ezeiza on Thursday, after Argentina's third day of training, and the first one was about his own future. "There is no news yet. I will meet with the president in the coming days," he said 6. That meeting had been set for Wednesday and slipped because he had a dentist's appointment; AFA president Claudio Tapia was in Paraguay on Thursday 6.

Scaloni's contract and his staff's run to December 2026. He said both sides were ready to sit down, and that nothing would be announced until there was something to announce: "For now everything stays as it was" 6.

On Messi, Scaloni described his own part in getting him to the match. "I spoke with him. I did my bit to try to convince him that it was now, that nobody knew what could happen later," he said. "A player like that deserves this. I want to be at his farewell, and since I don't know whether I will still be here later, we pushed for him to play this game" 6.

Bolivia and Burkina Faso will be Argentina's first look at a squad built without Messi, and Scaloni left Rodrigo De Paul and Giovani Lo Celso in the group for Benin only. "They come only for the last match because we want to see other boys," he said, adding that the doors stay open for both 7. He called this window a good moment for a generational handover, as 2018 had been 7.

The XI he tried in Thursday's session: Emiliano Martínez; Agustín Giay, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez, Facundo Medina; Exequiel Palacios, Alexis Mac Allister; Franco Mastantuono, Nicolás Paz; Julián Álvarez, Lautaro Martínez. Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez shared the attack, and Facundo Medina came in at left back 8. The camp returns to work on Friday and Saturday behind closed doors, with the next session open to accredited media on Monday 9.

At Tuesday's AFA executive committee meeting, Tapia asked River Plate to waive its rental fee for the Monumental for the Oct. 6 friendly and donate the money to a charity, citing the worldwide attention the match will draw 10. The request went to River's vice-president Ignacio Villarroel, who said he would carry it to the club's leadership 10.

River did not accept it. Sources at the club told Superdeportivo the request was outrageous, that they read it as an attempt to expose them, and that the stadium fee is a little under US$500,000 11. Those same sources said the AFA would collect close to US$6 million from the sale while asking River to forgo its cut 11.

The refusal sits inside a wider dispute. River had just returned to the AFA's executive committee after a long absence and brought a document of proposed reforms, and the AFA had still not ruled on River's request to move its Oct. 7 league match against Sarmiento to Oct. 14 11.

Messi stays in Miami for Inter Miami's next match. Columbus Crew host Inter Miami on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET, which is Monday 07:00 in Shanghai, at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field 12. The league's preview names him as the player to watch, and his wire note lists him available for the Crew match, with the Benin friendly to follow 13.

He leads MLS with 33 goal contributions this season, 20 goals and 13 assists in 23 games, and he is the second player in league history to score 20 or more goals in three straight seasons, after LAFC's Denis Bouanga 14. Eight regular-season games remain for him to make his case for a third Landon Donovan MLS MVP award, which would be a first 14.

Inter Miami goes in third in the Eastern Conference on 46 points from 26 games, with the best away record in MLS: eight wins, three draws and two defeats on the road 12. Columbus sits 13th on 26 points, seven behind FC Cincinnati for the last playoff place 12.

Kickoff times for the three friendlies had not been announced. Scaloni's press conference is set for Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 14:15 in Argentina, which is Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 01:15 in Shanghai 9.