After the final of the 2026 World Cup and a few weeks marked by the closing of a chapter, the Argentine National Teamwill get back to work with a news that will carry special weight. Lionel Scaloni presented the first call-up after the World Cup and Lionel Messiappears among the names chosen for the upcoming friendlies.
Although the captain announced his retirement from the national team on August 31 through his social media, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) decided to organize a farewell for the greatest figure in the recent history of the team and received his acceptance to play one last match in front of the Argentine public.
In the same statement that revealed the roster for the FIFA date, the governing body of Argentine football confirmed that Messi will only be present on Tuesday, October 6, when the Albiceleste faces Benin at the Monumental stadium. In addition to the Rosario player, Rodrigo De Paul and Giovani Lo Celso were also called up for that specific match.
Lionel Messi will play his last match with the Argentine National Team against Benin on Tuesday, October 6 at the Monumental
Before the farewell of number 10, Argentina will have two other commitments. The debut of this new stage is scheduled for Wednesday, September 30, when the Albiceleste hosts Bolivia at the Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium. Then, the squad will move to Buenos Aires to continue the tour against Burkina Faso on Saturday, October 3 at River's field.
It is worth noting that, due to FIFA sanctions for various situations during the World Cup, the first match will have a 50% capacity, while the second is on hold and subject to a trial period, so the 50% capacity restriction will only apply if incidents or discriminatory chants are repeated.
The call-ups of the Argentine National Team for the next FIFA date
Within the list presented by Scaloni, there are 20 names that are repeated from the World Cup roster, leaving out Nicolás Otamendi, who had already announced that he would retire from the National Team after the World Cup, Marcos Senesi, Gonzalo Montiel, Leandro Paredes, Nahuel Molina, and Thiago Almada, the latter three to serve their respective suspensions.
The players called up for the Argentina National Team for the upcoming FIFA date
As for the new faces, seven of the newcomers have been called up before, but did not make the cut for the World Cup due to physical or sporting issues (Agustín Giay, Leonardo Balerdi, Juan Foyth, Franco Mastantuono, Gianluca Prestianni, and Matías Soulé), while Román Vega received his first call-up to play with the senior team.
