What happened today during Messi’s farewell with Argentina is the literal definition of class. It started with Messi riding on an open-top bus with “Thank you forever, Captain” written on it. When he heard the fans singing, “Hand in hand with Messi, we’ll celebrate together,” he broke down in tears. He couldn’t believe this was his final game. Then, when he came onto the pitch for the warm-up, everyone was in tears — his mother, his wife, Scaloni and the entire crowd. The game was even stopped in the 10th minute so the fans could give Messi a proper farewell, with the whole stadium erupting in “Olé, Olé, Messi!” Argentina went on to beat Benin 3–0, with Messi scoring once and providing two assists. That took him to 126 goals and 70 assists for Argentina, making him the player with the most goal contributions in the national team’s history. Even in his farewell, Messi delivered a hat-trick of goal contributions. The greatest journey in football history ended with the greatest farewell imaginable. The only comfort is that Messi achieved everything there was to achieve in this journey. Game over. The final whistle has been blown. 💔 #Argentina #messi #sportsontiktok - @iamissa1989