The last round of CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers starts today (well, tomorrow Friday in European time), as part of the international break, and it is specially meaningful to Argentina, as it will, most likely, be the final match for Leo Messi in his home country. It will be against Venezuela, at 1:30 CEST, 2:30 BST (on Friday). 20:30 local time in Argentina.
While Leo Messi has not announced his retirement, and he is sure to take part in next summer World Cup, played in USA, Mexico and Canada, Friday's match against Venezuela will be the last time the World Cup winners play at their home country for a while. Unless there are some friendlies, he next qualifier match after that will be in 2027, and Messi thinks he will not be active. Messi will turn 39 during the next World Cup in summer 2026.
There are no tributes expected for Messi, but everybody will know the special significance of the match. Messi will be in the starting line up for a match without much interest for Argentina, already qualified as the leader of the qualifiers (with 11 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats), but for Venezuela the match is crucial, as they need to win to ensure, at least, reaching the inter-confederation play-offs.
Maybe Scaloni chooses to change it in the last minutes, so he can have an ovation at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, as an "unofficial" goodbye to their icon, who will be remembered as big (if not more) than Maradona.
This could be the final match that Messi plays in Argentina, but there will be more: next Tuesday, September 9, Argentina plays in Ecuador. Counting today's match, Messi has played 194 matches for Argentina since 2005, scoring 112 goals, and has won two Copa Américas and 2022 World Cup.