Messi Plays Final Argentina Match Tonight, Owns Two Spanish Clubs Within the Same Week

A 21-year international career ends tonight

Lionel Messi plays his 208th and final match for Argentina tonight against Benin in a friendly at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, according to BBC Sport and Goal.com. He's the country's most-capped player and all-time leading scorer. Only Diego Maradona is mentioned in the same breath as the greatest player Argentina has ever produced.

Messi announced his retirement from international football on August 31, six weeks after Argentina lost the World Cup final to Spain, saying according to BBC Sport that he had "nothing more to give." Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has said Messi can reverse the decision if he wants, and that there's no shame in changing his mind. Nobody close to Messi expects that to happen.

His club career isn't ending. Messi's contract with Inter Miami runs through the end of the 2028 MLS season, reviewed annually, according to BBC Sport. The Buenos Aires Times reports, citing media reports, that the contract includes a provision letting him become a shareholder in the club once he retires as a player.

The business side moved fast

While the national team farewell was still being planned, Messi was closing deals. CD Eldense, a Spanish second-division club based near Alicante, announced on October 1 that Messi had acquired the team, according to the Buenos Aires Times, which described the deal as finalized. BBC Sport notes the sale still requires authorization from Spain's sports council, the CSD, a formality for foreign ownership changes in Spanish football.

Eldense is Messi's second Spanish club purchase this year. He bought UE Cornellà, a fifth-tier side on the edge of Barcelona, in April, intending it as a development pipeline for young players, per BBC Sport. Eldense, 19th of 22 teams in its division and facing a real threat of relegation to the third tier, will serve as the flagship of Messi's football operation. Former Villarreal manager Javi Calleja was already in charge when Messi took over and has stayed on, with the stated goal this season simply being survival.

Messi isn't running either club day-to-day. BBC Sport reports he plans to operate both through people he trusts who will bridge the gap until he can give the clubs his full attention after he stops playing. For now, he follows Eldense results closely. After the club beat Real Oviedo 4-1, his first message as owner was an Instagram post reading "Aupa Deportivo," according to BBC Sport and multiple other outlets carrying the same reporting.

Around a dozen sponsors approached Eldense within days of the ownership announcement, BBC Sport reports, including some brands that had been negotiating with the club's previous owners without ever closing.

The portfolio runs deeper than two clubs

Messi's business interests extend well past Spain. The Buenos Aires Times, citing AFP and Bloomberg reporting, lists a real estate investment trust listed in Spain, a U.S.-based venture capital fund, a Barcelona building he agreed to buy in May, and an Argentine restaurant chain he partially owns that announced plans last month to expand into Spain. His family also founded a club called Leones in Argentina, and he holds a stake in a Uruguayan club alongside former Barcelona teammate Luis Suárez.

Asked recently whether he'd rather be a coach or an owner, Messi picked owner, according to BBC Sport. A coach answers for results every Saturday, while an owner sets direction from further back but still wants a hand in every decision.

The Buenos Aires Times notes it's becoming more common for players and former players to buy small clubs, but unusual for one to own a portfolio spanning multiple clubs and countries the way Messi now does. Whether Messi's Eldense investment keeps the club in the second division this season, and whether the CSD approval BBC Sport flagged clears without issue, are the two concrete markers to watch before his stated long-term plan comes into focus.