Messi's farewell match for the national team against Benin: 1 goal and 2 assists… finishes with 208 caps and 126 goals in A-matches

Messi recorded 1 goal and 2 assists in his farewell match for the national team. Argentina beat Benin 3-0. His final A-match record stands at 208 appearances and 126 goals.

Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.

Summary in three lines

On October 6 local time, Argentina beat Benin 3-0 in Messi's farewell match for the national team.
Messi set up goals by Otamendi and Paz and scored a penalty himself, recording 1 goal and 2 assists.
Messi's final A-match record is 208 appearances and 126 goals. His contract with Inter Miami runs through the 2028 season.

"Today is the saddest day of my career." Lionel Messi said this after the match against Benin on October 6 local time, taking the microphone to thank the fans. The scene was reported by El País on the 7th. It was a farewell 21 years after his debut against Hungary on August 17, 2005.

Messi with 1 goal and 2 assists against Benin as Argentina win 3-0 with 3 second-half goals

AFA, Argentina finished the first half 0-0 and then scored three goals in the second half alone. The announced kickoff was 8 a.m. on October 7 Korean time.

El País and AP reported that Messi set up goals by Nicolás Otamendi and Nico Paz and then scored a penalty himself, recording 1 goal and 2 assists. All three goals went through Messi's feet. Otamendi played his own farewell match for the national team alongside Messi that day, and the 22-year-old Paz is an attacking midfielder who wears the number 10 shirt.

Messi's A-match record of 208 appearances and 126 goals, 20 goals behind Ronaldo

The record the AFA gave when announcing his retirement on August 31 was 207 appearances and 125 goals. With 1 appearance and 1 goal against Benin added, his final record by FIFA and El País's count became 208 appearances and 126 goals(as of 14:00 on October 7, 2026).

Dividing 126 goals by 208 appearances gives 0.61 goals per match. He won the 2022 Qatar World Cup, two Copa Américas (2021 and 2024) and the 2022 Finalissima, and also took gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He leaves after winning most of the major titles.

Rank	Player (country)	Goals	Appearances	Goals per match (own calculation)
1	Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)	146	234	0.62
2	Lionel Messi (Argentina)	125	207	0.60
3	Ali Daei (Iran)	108	148	0.73
4	Sunil Chhetri (India)	95	157	0.61
5	Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)	93	133	0.70

According to UEFA's September 29 tally, the world number one is Ronaldo, with 146 goals in 234 appearances. The Messi figures in the table are from before the farewell match. Compared with his final record of 126 goals and 208 appearances, the gap is 20 goals and 26 appearances. The two records have reference dates that are a week apart. Messi is number one for Argentina but not in the world.

Messi's Inter Miami contract runs through 2028, with a salary of $25 million

Messi has retired only from the national team. Inter Miamiannounced in October 2025 that it had extended his contract through the end of the 2028 MLS season. According to MLS Players Association data, his base salary for the 2026 season is $25 million.

Messi's national team career ended with a 3-0 win, but the record-keeping is not finished. It has not been confirmed whether the federation has reissued figures reflecting the farewell match. His career assists also differ, with FIFA and El País giving 70 and the official MLS article giving 69, and the reason has not yet been explained.

Related official sites

Argentine Football Association official website — check national team match results and official federation announcements
FIFA official website — view Messi's career A-match record and the tribute article
MLS official player profile for Messi — check club season records
Inter Miami CF official website — his club's schedule and official news

Featured image · Archival photo · Not an on-site photo of the match described in this article · Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Voltmetro), CC BY-SA 4.0