hendra-wijaya
For years, the West African nation of Benin has watched its neighbour Nigeria dominate the regional football conversation, its own modest achievements largely overlooked by the wider sporting world. That dynamic is set to shift dramatically on Tuesday night, when the Cheetahs walk out at Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires to face Argentina in what will be Lionel Messi's final international appearance. It is a fixture that places a team assembled largely from football's smaller leagues directly opposite the World Cup runners-up on one of the sport's grandest stages.
The timing has turned an otherwise routine friendly into a global event. Argentina has commissioned a specially designed kit to commemorate the occasion, and the shirt Messi wears during the match is expected to become one of the most sought-after pieces of sporting memorabilia ever produced. For Benin, the setting provides an unprecedented platform, one that captain Steve Mounie has described as a moment the squad could never have anticipated when the fixture was first arranged.
Benin's squad is built on players who earn their living far from Europe's elite competitions, with representatives from the Finnish league, Switzerland's second division and the South African Premiership among those expected to feature. The contrast with an Argentina side packed with household names could hardly be sharper, yet Mounie insists the occasion carries value beyond the scoreline, offering his teammates a rare chance to test themselves against the very best and to raise the profile of Beninese football in the process.
Mounie himself will not take part. The forward, who plays his club football for Bundesliga side Augsburg and is fondly remembered by Huddersfield Town supporters from his spell there between 2017 and 2020, has been ruled out through injury. Rather than remain at home to recover, he chose to travel and join up with the squad, revealing that he even purchased his own plane ticket to make the journey. He explained that football is his passion and that he came for himself, adding that he would happily sit on the bench or in the stands so long as he could watch the game unfold from inside the stadium.
The 31-year-old's decision reflects the scale of the occasion for a player who has represented his country for more than a decade but had never previously played an international fixture outside Africa. Recalling the moment he learned of the match, Mounie said the squad were unaware it would mark Messi's farewell when the coach first called. He described the news as the cherry on top of the cake, arguing that it adds significance to an event that already means a great deal to Benin and to the football world more broadly.
Despite the gulf in reputation between the two sides, Mounie believes Benin possess qualities that could make them awkward opponents. He characterised the team as disciplined and noted that a crop of technically gifted young players has emerged in recent years. According to the captain, the Cheetahs look to press and attack whenever possible, but when that approach is not viable they defend as a unit and fight for one another, a collective spirit he compared to that of Argentina, describing Messi as a father figure to his national teammates.
Argentina arrive at the friendly in ominous form, having dismantled fellow West African side Burkina Faso 7-0 in their previous outing. That result has led many observers to anticipate a similarly lopsided scoreline, and it seems improbable that Messi will complete the full 90 minutes. A more realistic script would see him withdrawn in the second half with Argentina comfortably ahead, allowing a sold-out crowd to deliver an extended farewell to the country's most celebrated athlete.
The match has also sparked intense speculation about what happens once the final whistle sounds. Doug Bierton, founder of Classic Football Shirts, whose personal collection of iconic jerseys runs into the thousands, expects a scramble among players to secure a memento from the Argentine captain. He pointed out that match-worn Messi shirts are extraordinarily difficult to obtain precisely because their value is so widely understood, meaning virtually every player on the pitch will be angling for a swap.
Bierton ranks the shirt from this fixture alongside some of the most coveted items in football history, including the jersey Diego Maradona wore when he scored his infamous "Hand of God" goal against England at the 1986 World Cup, which sold for £7.1m at auction in May 2022. He also placed it in the same company as Zinedine Zidane's shirt from his final France appearance, the 2006 World Cup final in which he was sent off for headbutting Marco Materazzi.
What makes the Messi shirt remarkable, in Bierton's assessment, is that it will be worn in a friendly rather than a competitive fixture, yet is still regarded as belonging in that rarefied category. He sees this as evidence of the widespread conviction that Messi is the greatest footballer of all time, and he predicted that Benin's players will face stiff competition for the jersey from their Argentine counterparts. He also highlighted the novelty of the situation, noting that this is the first occasion a legend of Messi's stature has bowed out wearing a special edition shirt.
For Benin, the night represents something more than a contest against a formidable opponent. It is an opportunity to be seen, to measure a young and evolving squad against the reigning world champions, and to carry the flag for a country accustomed to playing second fiddle in its own region. Whatever the result, the Cheetahs will leave Buenos Aires having shared a pitch with one of the sport's immortals, an experience that Mounie and his teammates believe can shape the trajectory of Beninese football for years to come.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 00:00 BST on Wednesday, and the Estadio Monumental is expected to be full. For the thousands inside and the millions watching worldwide, the primary attraction is the farewell of a player whose career has defined an era. For a small West African nation with big ambitions, however, the occasion offers a rare turn in the spotlight, one that Benin intends to make the most of.
Comments (0)