Argentina fans are confident there is a bright future beyond Lionel Messi as the team’s most influential player of the last two decades prepares to bid farewell.
The 39-year-old superstar will play his final match for Argentina on Tuesday (October 6, 2026) — a friendly against Benin at Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires — marking a pivotal moment in the country’s football.
With his goal against Burkina Faso, Inter Milan captain Lautaro Martínez ranks as Argentina’s third-highest all-time goal-scorer with 42.
Messi leaves behind an extraordinary legacy, including the 2022 World Cup title, two more World Cup finals (2014, 2026), two Copa América trophies (2021, 2024), an Olympic gold medal (2008), and 125 goals as the national team’s all-time leading scorer. Another fan, Valentina Gago, 20, said: “I’m excited about Argentina without Messi; my favorite player is Lautaro Martínez. However, Scaloni — who is in advanced negotiations to renew his contract for another four years — looks beyond Messi with optimism: “The Argentine national team will endure. We will remain at a high level, I have no doubt about that. Flores is a Boca Juniors youth player who made his professional debut just two months ago and has already earned senior national team experience. It’s not the same as Messi but I love him just the same.”
“There’s a changing of the guard; maybe we have to play differently now, not thinking in terms of Messi and 10 others,’ but rather as a unified team,” supporter Cristian Versalles, 55, told the AP after watching the victory over Burkina Faso on Saturday.