One last match: Messi reveals the shirt for his Argentina farewell

Lionel Messi has revealed the shirt he will wear in his final Argentina match. Adidas and the Argentine Football Association built it for the occasion, and Messi's own post carried the line that framed it: "One last match... A jersey for a lifetime." 1 The match is a friendly against Benin at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, Oct. 6, in a ground that holds about 84,000. 1

The shirt drops Argentina's stripes. It is sky blue with one broad white band down the centre, and pale rays taken from the Sun of May spread across the front and the back. Messi's own "M" mark sits on the right chest in gold, in the place the Adidas performance logo normally takes, balanced by the three-star AFA crest in gold on the left. The collar and the sleeve cuffs are black with gold edging, and gold "MESSI 10" runs across the back beneath a small Sun of May. In the video, Messi changes out of a standard Argentina shirt into this one and picks up a pair of white boots. 2

Argentina's squad has begun gathering in Buenos Aires for the window, and the farewell was the first subject put to the players arriving. Valentín Barco gave the answer that travelled furthest. "Nobody can imagine the national team without him," the defender told ESPN. "He will leave a huge void, one that is impossible to fill." 3

Lautaro Martínez was shorter: "It will be an emotional match for everyone." Cristian Romero spoke about how Messi has handled the final stage of his international career, and about the humility that, in Romero's account, sits behind everything he won. 3

Ángel Di María will be in the stands. He has retired from the national team himself and plays for Rosario Central now, and his club faces Banfield on Oct. 5, the day before the farewell. "I have to go to the stadium, don't I? I have to go and watch," Di María said. "We play Banfield on the 5th, so I will probably stay on there. It is on my way, I will be there." 4

"I have already retired," he said. "I am going to enjoy it, to watch the beautiful farewell Leo is going to have. It will be very difficult, after so many years, to see the national team without him. But there is one last time and this is it, so we are going to enjoy it." 4

The federation has invited the players who won the 2022 World Cup alongside Messi, and their families, to watch the match from the stands. 13

The window opens in Córdoba, where Argentina meet Bolivia on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Messi is expected to sit that one out and stay away from the trip, and the federation's own material for the match lists him outside the squad. 5 The squad then moves to Buenos Aires for Burkina Faso on Saturday, Oct. 3, and Benin three days later. 4 Of the three, the Benin match is the one expected to feature him. 1

Tickets for the two Monumental matches go on sale on Tuesday at 18:00 in Argentina, which is 05:00 Wednesday in Shanghai, through Deportick only. 5

MLS has published its full list of call-ups for the September–October window, and seven Inter Miami players are on it. Messi and Rodrigo De Paul go with Argentina, Germán Berterame with Mexico, Frico Caicedo with Ecuador, Matías Galarza with Paraguay, Telasco Segovia with Venezuela, and goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair with Canada. 6 MLS describes this as an expanded window, the first since the World Cup, in which countries can play up to four games from late September into early October. 6

Miami's next league match comes first: away to the Columbus Crew on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 p.m. ET, which is 07:00 on Monday, Sept. 28 in Shanghai. 7

Kily González was asked after the San Diego draw whether he would back Messi finishing his career at Newell's Old Boys, the other club from their shared hometown of Rosario. González, a Rosario Central idol, took the joke first. "If he decides to go to Rosario and play, I would rather he did not — but I will always be alongside him in the best way," he said. Then came the answer underneath it. "It is a decision that belongs exclusively to him. We are both from a city that lives for football, both identified with different shirts, but today we are together. Since I arrived, and since I have known him, the only thing I want is for him to be happy." 8