Lionel Messi's Final Match with the Argentina National Team in Buenos Aires

There is one final stage waiting for Lionel Messi with Argentina. After his long journey wearing the blue and white national jersey, Messi will get the chance to bid farewell in front of his home country's public.

La Pulga has been included in Lionel Scaloni's squad for the upcoming international break, and will make a special appearance when Argentina host Benin on 6 October in Buenos Aires.

This upcoming match is far more than an ordinary friendly. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has prepared this fixture as an official career celebration for Messi, with all members of Argentina's 2022 World Cup winning squad also invited to take part.

Messi had previously announced he would retire from international football after Argentina's World Cup final defeat. Now, the opportunity to wear the national team shirt one last time has arrived, in the form of this dedicated farewell match before the Argentine public.

"To all Argentina fans and every person across this country: after speaking with national team head coach Lionel Scaloni, we have taken the decision to invite the greatest player in the world, the symbol of our national team and our captain, Lionel Andres Messi, to receive the proper, well-deserved farewell that he has earned, right here in Argentina on 6 October," stated AFA President Claudio Tapia in a video posted to Instagram.

Tapia outlined plans for a grand celebration night for the player who stood as the beating heart of Argentina's national side for nearly two decades.

He described the occasion as something that will be "unforgettable", and called on the Argentine public to come witness "the final tango of the world's best footballer".

Messi will not participate in the full international break schedule for Argentina. He will only join the squad for the Benin match. Giovani Lo Celso and Rodrigo De Paul will follow the same arrangement.

Before this farewell fixture, Argentina are scheduled to face Bolivia on 30 September and Burkina Faso on 3 October. Messi will skip both of these matches, only linking up with the group for the final scheduled game.

If this does prove to be his final international appearance, the Benin match will close out a career for Messi that will be almost impossible to replicate.

He holds the all-time records for both most caps and most goals in the entire history of the Argentina men's national team.

Since making his senior international debut in 2005, Messi has represented Argentina 207 times, scoring 125 goals.

Yet these statistics only tell part of the story. The peak of Messi's journey with his nation came in 2022, when he captained Argentina to lift the World Cup trophy in Qatar - the prize that had remained the missing, unreachable piece of his international legacy for so many years.

Now, Buenos Aires is preparing to host the final chapter of Messi's international story.

Standing alongside his teammates from the 2022 world champion squad, Messi will get the chance to stand once again under the full spotlight of the Argentine public.

This time there will be no trophy to fight for, no new records to set. This occasion exists only to celebrate a journey that defined one of the most iconic eras in the entire history of Argentine football.