Wednesday, October 7 will be an emotional day for football fans around the world as record eight-time Ballon d’or winner and arguably one of the greatest ever to play the sport, Lionel Messi will put on the Argentinian jersey for the last time, bringing an end to his international career which lasted for nearly two decades.
Way before he won team and individual trophies with club and country, an 18-year-old Lionel Messi made his international debut back in 2005 in a friendly contest against Hungary. That was the beginning of his journey, which will go down as one of the most decorated yet painful ones.
Lionel Messi endured more heartbreaks than he tasted success. He had to wait for exactly 16 years to get his hands on a major silverware with Argentina after years of second place finishes in the Copa America and the FIFA World Cups.
He reached his first major final as a senior figure in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil where Argentina finished as runners-up after enduring a narrow 1-0 loss to Germany. A year later, Lionel Messi and co reached the 2015 Copa America final but the South Americans eventually lost to hosts Chile by 4-1 on penalties.
In the following Copa America edition in 2016, Messi missed a crucial penalty in the replay of the 2015 finale against Chile as Argentina suffered a 4-2 defeat on penalties.
Those back-to-back losses in major finals eventually took its toll on Lionel Messi, who got so fed up that he announced his international retirement with an aim to never return. However, upon insistence from fans and the Argentinian board, Messi came out of retirement and played the 2018 FIFA World Cup as well as next year’s Copa America edition.
But even then, the former FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward could not find enough luck. It wasn’t until current head coach Lionel Scaloni arrived that Messi’s fate started to change.
The turnaround wasn’t immediate, it was rather gradual. Having taken over as the interim manager, Lionel Scaloni went on to guide Argentina to the 2021 Copa America title, the Finalissima in 2022 before grabbing the biggest trophy on offer and fulfilling Lionel Messi’s long-standing dream of winning the FIFA World Cup.
On December 18, 2022, Messi finally became a world champion on a starry night at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar. Two years later, the Argentina legend defended the Copa America after beating Colombia in the 2024 finale.
Yet, even after three international silverwares, including the world cup, Lionel Messi’s fans wanted to see him defend the world title but fate had other plans. After a sensational run in the group and knockout stages, Messi and co suffered a 1-0 loss to Spain in the 2026 finale at New Jersey, just like it happened when the record Ballon d’or winner reached his first final in 2014.
Monday, July 20 was the final time that the world witness Lionel Messi on a world cup final and October 7 will be the day of Messi’s last dance.
Live streaming details of Lionel Messi’s farewell match
Lionel Messi’s final international appearance for Argentina against Benin will take place on Wednesday, October 7 at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires from 4:30AM (IST) onwards. Live streaming will be available on the Zee5 app/website.