Benin Prepare for Spotlight as Messi Bows Out in Buenos Aires

Benin, a small West African nation accustomed to being overlooked in a football landscape dominated by its larger neighbour Nigeria, is set to take centre stage on Tuesday night. The Cheetahs will face Argentina in Buenos Aires in a friendly that has been designated as Lionel Messi's final international appearance. The match, scheduled to kick off at 00:00 BST on Wednesday, represents an extraordinary moment for a country whose footballing profile has long been overshadowed by the giants of African football.

The fixture pits the World Cup runners-up against a Benin side comprised largely of players plying their trade in modest leagues across Europe and Africa. Members of the squad earn their living in Finland, Switzerland's second division and the South African Premiership. It is a stark contrast to an Argentina team boasting some of the most celebrated names in world football.

For Messi, the occasion will mark the end of an international career that has spanned nearly two decades and scaled the greatest heights of the sport. A specially designed Argentina kit has been produced to commemorate the event, and the shirt Messi wears during the match could become one of the most expensive items of football memorabilia ever sold.

Among those travelling to witness the occasion is Benin captain Steve Mounie, though injury has ruled him out of taking part. The forward, who plays his club football for German Bundesliga side FC Augsburg, is well known to English supporters from his four-year spell at Huddersfield Town between 2017 and 2020. He has been a fixture in the Benin national team for more than a decade but had never previously played a match for his country outside Africa.

Mounie has made the journey despite being unable to feature, revealing that he purchased his own plane ticket and travelled purely to support his teammates. He explained that when the coach first contacted him about the fixture, nobody realised it would be Messi's farewell appearance. The news, he said, felt like the crowning touch on an already significant occasion, elevating the match's importance for Benin and for the wider football world.

Rather than remaining at home to recover, Mounie insisted this was a moment he could not forgo. He described football as his passion and admitted that his decision to travel was as much for himself as for the squad. He said he would accept whatever role was offered, whether a place on the bench or a seat in the stands, but expressed a strong preference to watch the action from pitch level.

The former Premier League striker believes that while the result of a friendly carries limited consequence, the match offers his teammates a rare platform to raise their profiles and that of Beninese football. He characterised the team as highly disciplined, noting the presence of numerous young players with strong technical ability. According to Mounie, Benin favour an attacking approach built on pressing, but when that is not possible, the side sticks together and fights for one another.

He also drew a parallel between Benin's collective spirit and the culture within the Argentina camp, describing both squads as family-like. In his view, Messi occupies a father figure role within the Argentine setup, a sentiment that underscores the respect Benin's players hold for their opponents despite the gulf in reputation.

Argentina enter the contest having demolished fellow West African side Burkina Faso 7-0 in a warm-up fixture. Many observers expect a similarly lopsided scoreline against Benin, and it is considered unlikely that Messi will complete the full 90 minutes. The more probable scenario would see Argentina establish a comfortable lead before Messi is withdrawn in the second half, allowing a sold-out Estadio Monumental to bid farewell to the country's greatest sporting icon.

The scene after the final whistle could prove equally memorable. Doug Bierton, founder of Classic Football Shirts, anticipates a scramble for memorabilia, with every player on the pitch potentially seeking to swap shirts with Messi. Bierton, whose private collection of iconic jerseys runs into the thousands, said obtaining a match-worn Messi shirt is exceptionally difficult because their value is so widely understood.

He argued that the special-edition nature of the kit adds further significance, making it the first time a legend has departed the international stage wearing a commemorative design. In his assessment, the shirt could rank alongside the most coveted items in the sport's history, including the jersey Diego Maradona wore when he scored his infamous "Hand of God" goal against England at the 1986 World Cup, which fetched £7.1m at auction in May 2022.

Another comparable artefact, Bierton suggested, is Zinedine Zidane's shirt from his final France appearance, the 2006 World Cup final in which he was sent off for headbutting Italy's Marco Materazzi. The fact that Messi's shirt will be worn in a friendly rather than a competitive fixture, yet still commands such esteem, is arguably the clearest illustration of the widespread conviction that he is the greatest footballer of all time.

Bierton predicted that Benin's players will face stiff competition for the jersey, noting that the desire to secure a memento will extend well beyond the African side. The night will therefore carry significance on multiple levels: a farewell to a global icon, an unprecedented opportunity for a small nation to share a pitch with greatness, and the creation of a piece of sporting history that collectors will covet for generations.