SportCNA

Emotion, tears as Messi retires from Argentina national team

Lionel Messi scored his 126th international goal in his emotional farewell match for Argentina, a 3-0 win over Benin in Buenos Aires.

Lionel Messi signed off his international career with his 126th goal for Argentina in front of 85,000 supporters in Buenos Aires.

The Long Sip
What happened

Lionel Messi played his final game for Argentina on Tuesday, ending a 21-year international career in front of 85,000 fans in Buenos Aires.

The detail

The 39-year-old scored his 126th international goal and provided an assist in his record-extending 208th appearance for Argentina.

And then

A tearful Messi told fans the last World Cup was too much to bear, but promised he would always be there supporting the team from the stands.

Full story at CNA

What readers are saying

ian1958
The anthem moment with the Malvinas banner next to the Falklands veteran adds extra weight given the World Cup semi-final history. That 10th-minute ovation for his shirt number also shows how the crowd understood the symbolism of the occasion.
trev1986
Messi's 208th cap really puts the longevity into perspective.
phyllis1948
The giant jersey with Gracias on it before kickoff would have been worth seeing in person.
Puzzle break

Five minutes for you

True or false1 of today's 5
“Chiko Rolls were invented as food you could hold at the footy”
More to play, free every day
Daily CrosswordWord DashRare FindThe Link

More from Cuppa

Vet shares how he pulled oldest animal Jonathan the tortoise back from the brink of death

The vet who saved Jonathan the tortoise, the world's oldest living land animal, has shared the story of nursing him back to health from near death.

Kagan and Soai win 2026 Nobel chemistry prize for single molecular mirror creation

French and Japanese scientists Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work that transformed how pharmaceuticals are made.

Three space agencies to research how to grow crops on the moon

NASA, Canada and Germany have agreed to jointly research how to grow crops on the Moon to support longer deep-space missions.

NASA develops humanoid robots for Moon and Mars missions

NASA is developing humanoid robots to work alongside astronauts on future Moon and Mars missions, handling dangerous and repetitive tasks.

WHO seeks more details from Russia about reasons for plague institute worker's death

The WHO has asked Russia for more details about the death of a plague institute worker in Siberia, saying transparent information sharing is essential.

French police suspend use of stun grenades after high-school protester loses hand

France has suspended police use of stun grenades at school protests after a 15-year-old lost his hand during a demonstration in Lens.

NASA rover takes striking image of dawn's early light on Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover has captured a stunning image of sunrise on Mars, revealing ancient wind-carved rock formations that scientists believe formed around 3 billion years ago.

Shell expects refineries to almost double the profit from every barrel of fuel made

Shell is set to nearly double its refinery profit per barrel thanks to record diesel prices caused by war-damaged refineries in the Middle East and Russia.

Back to the feed