Argentina beat Benin 3-0 in a Buenos Aires friendly on Tuesday, with Lionel Messi scoring the final goal of his international career from the penalty spot in front of a packed Estadio Monumental. It was his 208th and last appearance for the national team, closing a run of 21 years in the Albiceleste shirt.

Barcelona have never given him anything comparable.

Laporta’s long promise

Joan Laporta used Barcelona’s Ordinary General Assembly on 19 September to confirm the club’s position publicly: a tribute will happen, but only once the renovated stadium is back at full capacity.

“We told Messi that we would like to pay tribute to him once the stadium is completed,” he told the assembly.

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That means a long wait. The upper tier of the Spotify Camp Nou is not expected to open fully before 2027, installation of the new roof is scheduled to begin in June 2027, and the club is targeting the start of the 2028/29 season for a full-capacity reopening of around 105,000 seats.

The 2021 exit still shapes everything

Messi did not leave Barcelona on his own terms. In August 2021 the club could not register his new contract because of La Liga’s financial rules, and his departure was announced in a tearful press conference rather than on the pitch. He joined Paris Saint-Germain within days.

Last November he visited the renovated stadium unannounced shortly after Barcelona’s win over Celta de Vigo, and posted a message that captured where he still stands with the club.

“Last night I returned to a place I miss with all my heart. A place where I was immensely happy, where you made me feel a thousand times the happiest person in the world. I hope I can come back someday,” Messi wrote on Instagram.

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Two days later Laporta ruled out any playing comeback.

“Speculating about a return as a player is not realistic,” he told Catalunya Radio. He said the right thing would be a tribute match, “and it would be wonderful to have it here, in front of 105,000 fans.”

The only gesture Barcelona made on Tuesday was a message on the club’s official accounts to mark the end of Messi’s Argentina career. The tribute Laporta has promised is tied to a Camp Nou full reopening currently targeted for the 2028/29 season.

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