Lionel Messi has now finally retired from international soccer. After successfully winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and taking his team to another final in the USA, Messi has now hung up his boots.

While he failed to deliver another World Cup to Argentina, he walked out of the team with his head held high. On Oct. 6, 2026, Messi played his last international game against Benin in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

However, shortly after the match, reports emerged that the Argentine Football Association (AFA) allegedly prevented Benin's players and staff from doing a few things after their friendly match.

Before the match started, the Benin players presented Messi with a statue, a letter from the team, and a rose. However, the post-match celebrations meant that the Benin players and staff could not get closer to the soccer legend.

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Speaking to French radio station RMC, Benin's German manager Gernot Rohr revealed that security prevented Benin players or staff from entering Argentina's dressing room, or even the tunnel area after the game had finished. “The Argentinians gave our players nothing,” he explained. “Not even a photo of Messi. We wanted to exchange jerseys, but we didn't get a single one.” [Quotes via SportBible]

Rohr further shared that his only memento was a 2018 signed Messi jersey. However, he received that only after the request of Argentina's manager, Lionel Scaloni. In addition to this, journalist Romain Molina added that Benin players and staff did not receive any bonus from the match. “No bonuses, not a single centime returned from the generated revenue, no jerseys exchanged, not one photo, and banned from entering the Argentine corridor! Everything goes to do business on the backs of those treated like mere props,” he wrote on social media. Neither Argentina nor Benin's soccer boards have officially commented on these claims.