Lionel Messi held his last training session before his farewell match for the Argentina national team

Brief retelling from RIA II

Lionel Messi held his last training session with the Argentina national team before the farewell match.

After training, Messi posted a group photo on social media, captioning it “Special moments that I will miss.”

Messi's farewell match for the Argentina national team against the Benin national team will take place on October 6 at the Monumental Stadium.

MOSCOW, October 6 - RIA Novosti. Eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi held his last training session with the Argentina national team before his farewell match for the national team and after the session he posted a group photo on Instagram*.

After the end of the training, Messi posted several photos from the training session, including a photo with the entire team, coaching staff, training ground staff and the Argentine Football Association (AFA), including its president Claudio Tapia.

“Special moments that I will miss,” Messi captioned the photo.

At the end of August, Messi, who plays for Inter Miami in the North American Major League Soccer (MLS), announced his retirement from the national team. The Argentine said that he made this decision on July 21, two days after the World Cup final. In September, the AFA called up Messi for a friendly match against the Benin national team, which will be held on October 6 at the Monumental Stadium and will be his farewell.

Messi is 39 years old, he is the top scorer in the history of the Spanish championship, Barcelona and the Argentina national team. The striker is also the only eight-time Ballon d'Or winner in history. Messi played 207 matches for the Argentina national team and scored 125 goals. Together with the national team, he won the America's Cup twice (2021, 2024), won the 2022 World Championship, twice won silver medals at the world championship (2014, 2026) and became the winner of the Finalissima (2022).