Why Lionel Messi is in Argentina’s squad despite announcing his retirement

Lionel Messi is returning to the Argentina national team one last time, and Benin will be the country that gets to share the pitch with him on his final night in the sky blue and white.

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) confirmed on Tuesday that Messi has been included in Lionel Scaloni's 28-man squad for a three-match home friendly window in September and October, but the World Cup winner will only feature in the last of the three games: the October 6 clash against Benin at River Plate's Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.

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It is a dramatic turn of events barely a month after Messi announced his retirement from international football on August 31, closing out a 21-year Albiceleste career that brought Argentina the 2022 World Cup and, this year, a painful defeat to Spain in the World Cup final.

AFA president Claudio Tapia explained that the decision was about giving the country's greatest ever player the send-off his career has earned. Tapia said the invitation was so Messi could have the farewell he truly deserves.

He has also asked every member of Argentina's 2022 World Cup-winning squad to walk out onto the Monumental pitch alongside Messi and their families, turning the Benin fixture into what is already being called Argentina's football event of the year.

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For Benin's football federation and its fans, this fixture instantly becomes one of the biggest nights in the country's football history.

Facing the greatest player of his generation, in his farewell international appearance, puts a routine end-of-year friendly on the global football map and gives West African football a rare moment in the spotlight normally reserved for European and South American giants.

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Argentina's three-match window begins on September 30 against Bolivia at Córdoba's Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, their first home game since the World Cup final defeat.

That match will reportedly be played at reduced capacity following FIFA sanctions linked to incidents after the World Cup final. Burkina Faso follow on October 3 at the Monumental, before Benin close out the window on October 6, in the match built entirely around Messi's farewell.

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The AFA's official squad statement named only Messi, Rodrigo De Paul and Giovani Lo Celso specifically for the Benin fixture, ending earlier speculation over whether Messi might also appear against Bolivia or Burkina Faso.

Messi will make his 208th and final appearance for Argentina in the Benin match, extending his record as the country's all-time leading scorer with 125 international goals.

His farewell also comes during an emotionally heavy period, after the death of his father, Jorge, last month. Messi has said he had serious doubts about continuing to play football at all following his father's passing.

When Messi does walk out for that last time, Benin will not just be an opponent, they will be part of football history, and one of Africa's own will have shared the stage on the night the world says goodbye to Lionel Messi.