{
  "id": 7650230,
  "title": "Lionel Messi will bid farewell to the Argentine national team with a match in Buenos Aires: “The last tango of the world's best player”",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/lionel-messi-se-despedira-de-la-seleccion-argentina-con-un-partido-en",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-15T22:47:05.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "El Pais",
    "slug": "el-pais",
    "url": "https://elpais.com/argentina/2026-09-15/lionel-messi-se-despedira-de-la-seleccion-argentina-con-un-partido-en-buenos-aires-el-ultimo-tango-del-mejor-jugador-del-mundo.html"
  },
  "original_language": "es",
  "account": "Lionel Messi will play his last match with the Argentina national team on October 6. The match, which is a friendly game, will take place in Buenos Aires against Benin. Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), referred to the match as \"the last tango of the best player in the world\".",
  "summary": "Lionel Messi will play his last match with the Argentina national team on October 6 in Buenos Aires. The match, described as \"the last tango of the best player in the world\" by Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), will be a friendly against Benin at the Monumental Stadium.\n\nMessi announced his international retirement earlier this month. The AFA confirmed that he has been invited to play in the farewell match. Argentina will play three home friendlies during the September 21-October 6 FIFA international window, with the match against Benin being one of them.\n\nThe other two friendlies will be against Bolivia on September 30 at Cordoba's Mario Kempes Stadium, and Burkina Faso on October 3 in Buenos Aires. According to El Pais, Messi, along with Rodrigo De Paul and Giovani Lo Celso, will take part in the final friendly on October 6.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 6,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "Messi called up by Argentina for farewell appearance following international retirement",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/messi-called-up-by-argentina-for-farewell-appearance-following",
        "published": "2026-09-15T20:18:57.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Gulf News",
        "title": "One last goodbye: Lionel Messi agrees to play for Argentina one more time",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/one-last-goodbye-lionel-messi-agrees-to-play-for-argentina-one-more",
        "published": "2026-09-15T21:12:17.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Punch",
        "title": "Messi returns to Argentina squad for final farewell against Benin",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/messi-returns-to-argentina-squad-for-final-farewell-against-benin",
        "published": "2026-09-15T21:28:04.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "ABC News",
        "title": "Messi offered farewell by Argentina after international retirement",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/messi-offered-farewell-by-argentina-after-international-retirement",
        "published": "2026-09-15T21:50:10.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Messi called up by Argentina to make farewell appearance following international retirement",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/messi-called-up-by-argentina-to-make-farewell-appearance-following-7645971",
        "published": "2026-09-15T22:00:43.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}