Messi: I have been incredibly proud to wear this jersey for over 20 years.

Argentina defeated Benin 3-0 in a friendly match thanks to goals from Otamendi, Nico Paz and Messi. Football superstar Messi also bid farewell to his brilliant "Pampas Eagles" career with a victory.

The 39-year-old Messi has made 208 appearances for Argentina in his career, contributing 126 goals and 68 assists. He has also won one World Cup, two Copa America titles, and one CONCACAF Champions League title with the Argentine national team. In addition, Messi has won the Ballon d'Or eight times.

In an interview, Messi said, "I am incredibly proud to wear this jersey for over 20 years. Even during the most difficult times for us and for me personally, I have never stopped fighting and have never given up on playing for the national team."

"It will be incredibly painful for me to never be able to come back here to play again. I swear, I really hope I can play for the rest of my life, because being able to represent the Argentine national team is the best thing in my life."

Messi said, "I stand here today on the saddest day of my career. I have to say goodbye to the national team and to everyone here. But from now on, I will stand on your other side and support all my teammates and every player who has joined the team since, and we will always be united."

In the 2026 World Cup semi-final, Argentina came from behind to defeat England 2-1 thanks to goals from Enzo and Lautaro. However, in the final, Scaloni's team lost to Spain, failing to defend their title.

Messi said, "Although I hope I can stay here for the rest of my life, I feel that now is the time. The 2026 World Cup was too exhausting, and everything that happened during that period left me completely drained. We had a dream, which was to realize my personal and national dream, to become world champions again."

“We were very close to our goal, and as it turned out, nothing unexpected happened as people had said. The match against England was extremely physically demanding and emotionally impactful.”

In addition, Messi said, "We almost fought to the very end, and we still fought as hard as we have when we wore this jersey. Not only with these teammates, but also with those who were with us during our championship run, we were really very close to our goal."

Image source: Internet