One more time. That's it, that's all. Lionel Messi will wear the Argentina shirt once more, and then that's the end of it.

The plan had been rumored ever since Messi announced his international retirement last month: the Argentine Football Association (AFA) wanted him back for one home friendly during a FIFA window, so the fans who'd watched him for twenty years could actually be there to say goodbye. Now it's confirmed.

Argentina play Benin on October 6 at the Monumental in Buenos Aires — 85,000 seats, and Messi's name is on the squad list Lionel Scaloni released. It's his last game in the shirt.

AFA president Claudio Tapia put it plainly in a video message: the federation invited Messi so he'd get, in his words, "the proper farewell he deserves."

It's going to be a lot, that night. The AFA invited every player from the 2022 World Cup-winning squad, plus their families, and Tapia says the whole match is being dedicated to Messi.

There was a real chance this wasn't how his story with the national team would end. Argentina lost the World Cup final to Spain 1-0 back in July, and Messi — 39 now — posted his retirement on social media on August 31. For a while, it looked like that final loss would just be the last thing anyone remembered. The AFA clearly didn't want that to stick.

Two friendlies come first: Bolivia in Córdoba on September 30, then Burkina Faso in Buenos Aires on October 3. Benin will be cap number 208 for Messi.

Only Cristiano Ronaldo has played more internationals and scored more international goals than him. Within Argentina alone, Messi already owns both records — 207 caps, 125 goals.

There's a wrinkle hanging over the home games. FIFA hit Argentina with a disciplinary sanction last month for using a match to make a political statement, and ordered the next home game capped at half capacity. So the Bolivia match at Estadio Mario Kempes will be played with the stands half-empty.

That goes back to the World Cup semi-final win over England, when a group of Argentina players unfurled a banner reading "The Falklands are Argentina's."

Separately, suspensions from the brawl between Argentine and Spanish players after the World Cup final are due to kick in around these same friendlies — Leandro Paredes gets 10 matches, Nahuel Molina seven, Thiago Almada one.