BUENOS AIRES (Realist English). On September 15, the Argentine Football Association published an expanded squad list for the national team, which includes 28 players.
Lionel Messi is on this list. President of the Argentine Football Association Claudio Tapia said on social media: “We invite the best player in the world, the idol of our national team, our captain Lionel Andrés Messi, so that on October 6 in Argentina a well-deserved farewell will take place.”
Messi announced his retirement from the national team on August 31. According to his own words, the final decision was made on July 21 — two days after the World Cup final. The last time he took the field as part of the Argentina national team was in the final of the 2026 World Cup, where the team won silver.
Match Schedule
The international match window covers the period from September 21 to October 6. Argentina will play three home friendly matches — this will be the team’s first appearance after the World Cup.
| Date | Match | Stadium | City |
| September 30 | Argentina — Bolivia | Mario Alberto Kempes | Córdoba |
| October 3 | Argentina — Burkina Faso | Monumental | Buenos Aires |
| October 6 | Argentina — Benin | Monumental | Buenos Aires |
Messi, Rodrigo De Paul and Giovani Lo Celso will participate only in the last friendly match on October 6 and will not play in the first two. The list of players from the domestic Argentine championship will be announced on September 18.
Messi’s Statistics for the National Team
| Indicator | Value |
| Matches | 207 |
| Goals | 125 |
| Assists | 68 |
| Trophies | 2022 World Cup, two Copa América, Finalissima |
Young Players and Disqualifications
The current list also includes several young players, including first-time call-up left-back Román Vega of Zenit, as well as returning Matías Soulé, Franco Mastantuono, Gianluca Prestianni, Santiago Castro and others.
In addition, due to incidents after the World Cup final, the Argentina national team has faced a number of disqualifications: Leandro Paredes (10 matches), Nahuel Molina (7 matches), Roberto Ayala (3 matches), Thiago Almada (1 match) will not be able to take the field. These disqualifications will begin to apply during the current friendly matches.
