BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina fans are confident there is a bright future beyond Lionel Messi as the team's most influential player of the last two decades prepares to bid farewell.
The 39-year-old superstar will play his final match for Argentina on Tuesday — a friendly against Benin at Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires — marking a pivotal moment in the country's football.
Messi leaves behind an extraordinary legacy, including the 2022 World Cup title, two more World Cup finals (2014, 2026), two Copa América trophies (2021, 2024), an Olympic gold medal (2008), and 125 goals as the national team’s all-time leading scorer.
His international retirement raises an inevitable question: Can Argentina remain among the global elite, or is a long trophy drought — reminiscent of the 35-year dry spell following Diego Maradona’s departure — on the horizon?
“Messi leaves behind something unequaled,” national coach Lionel Scaloni says. “We have to keep playing, but the feeling of having him on the pitch is unique. I’ve never seen anyone else convey what he does on a football field, and that is what we’re going to miss.”
However, Scaloni — who is in advanced negotiations to renew his contract for another four years — looks beyond Messi with optimism: “The Argentine national team will endure. We will remain at a high level, I have no doubt about that.”
In the first two post-World Cup matches without Messi, Argentina dazzled in the past week with resounding victories against Bolivia 4-0 and Burkina Faso 7-0. Despite the opponents’ stature, the matches offered compelling glimpses of what lies ahead.
Alongside established stars like Emiliano Martínez, Cristian Romero, Enzo Fernández, and Lautaro Martínez, an exciting wave of new talent emerged — creative midfielders Nicolás Paz and Franco Mastantuono, and wingers Gianluca Prestianni and Leonel Flores.
Flores is a Boca Juniors youth player who made his professional debut just two months ago and has already earned senior national team experience.
“There’s a changing of the guard; maybe we have to play differently now, not thinking in terms of ‘Messi and 10 others,’ but rather as a unified team,” supporter Cristian Versalles, 55, told the AP after watching the victory over Burkina Faso on Saturday.
His son, Ramiro, 23, added, “Given the number of players coming through, there’s definitely a new generation ready to step up. Nico Paz is the heir apparent." Paz, playing out of Italian club Como, was one of the scorers.
Also at the friendly and wearing the No. 19 jersey — the same one Messi wore during his senior national team debut in 2005 — 10-year-old fan Uzzi Rivero admitted, “It makes me really sad that he doesn’t play for Argentina anymore.” However, the youngster scowled at the suggestion that Argentina might face a trophy-less era following Messi's retirement.
Another fan, Valentina Gago, 20, said: “I'm excited about Argentina without Messi; my favorite player is Lautaro Martínez. It’s not the same as Messi but I love him just the same.”
With his goal against Burkina Faso, Inter Milan captain Lautaro Martínez ranks as Argentina’s third-highest all-time goal-scorer with 42.
“As long as the players are eager to give their all for the shirt, for me, Argentina will remain a contender,” Gago said.
The world will find out at the 2028 Copa América.
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
Argentina's Giuliano Simeone, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's seventh goal against Burkina Faso during an international friendly soccer match in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday sought to reassure NATO ally Iceland that President Donald Trump's administration has no designs on the island but shares its deep concerns about Arctic security as tensions between the United States and Russia rise in the high north and elsewhere.
Rubio hailed the role of diplomacy in resolving conflicts as he began a three-nation tour of NATO allies in the capital of Iceland, where concerns over the Republican administration’s often brusque and sometimes rude approach to traditional friends and partners have stirred unease.
Rubio, whose tour of NATO members will include Greece and Portugal, met Tuesday with Icelandic Foreign Secretary Thorgerdur Katrín Gunnarsdóttir at Reykjavik’s Hofdi House, the site of the 1986 summit between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that is widely regarded as the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
“The house symbolizes diplomacy’s role in ending the Cold War and defeating communism,” Rubio posted on social media after the talks that took place just days before the 40th anniversary of the landmark meeting.
However, both Rubio and Gunnarsdóttir downplayed differences between the allies and said both countries were committed to deepening and expanding military and commercial ties. Rubio made clear that the United States would not do anything in Iceland without Iceland's consent.
“We would be open to having those conversations to see what we can do together,” he said, noting that the U.S. had a decades-long permanent military presence in Iceland until 2006, when shifting priorities caused it to close its Keflavik base outside of Reykjavik. He noted that priorities have shifted again.
And, he went out of his way to praise Iceland: “We have tremendous respect for the people. We have respect for the country in the role it plays, and it has for a very long time,” he said.
Iceland has been uneasy about Trump’s intentions toward it after the posting of a map showing the colors of the U.S. flag sprawling across all of North America and extending to Iceland and Greenland. The unease has persisted despite an agreement reached last month to increase the U.S. presence in the neighboring Danish territory of Greenland that appears to have ended Trump’s earlier demand for the U.S. to take full control.
But on Tuesday, after Rubio's talks with Gunnarsdóttir and Iceland's Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, those tensions appeared to be on the wane.
Gunnarsdóttir said the matter had been largely, if not entirely, resolved. “We remain focused on the future," she said. Rubio, meanwhile, said he was not in Iceland to talk about social media posts. “Everything is very positive,” he said.
Before leaving Washington on Monday, Rubio said the visit is intended to “advance our shared priorities: a secure Arctic, stronger commercial and energy ties, and closer defense cooperation.” He offered no hint of tensions with the island that, while a NATO member, has no standing army.
The map incident, however, alarmed Icelanders, and in response, Gunnarsdóttir summoned U.S. Ambassador Billy Long to a meeting at which she made it clear the post was unacceptable.
Iceland, which is just 180 miles (290 kilometers) from Greenland, had already been on edge after Trump mistakenly named the country four times while speaking about Greenland.
Long, a colorful former Missouri congressman, IRS commissioner and professional auctioneer, also has made waves in Iceland. Before he took up his post in August, thousands of Icelanders signed a petition urging the prime minister to reject him after he made a crack earlier this year about Iceland becoming the 52nd U.S. state and making him governor. He has since apologized for the quip.
Long is not the first Trump ambassador to Iceland to have raised concerns with the host government. In Trump’s first term, Ambassador Jeffrey Ross Gunter left locals in relatively crime-free Reykjavik aghast over his request to hire armed bodyguards, which prompted complaints.
At Rubio’s next stop in Athens, he may be dealing with another ambassador controversy. Rep. Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat who is the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said last week that he would investigate allegations of misconduct and impropriety by the U.S. ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle.
In a letter to Rubio, Meeks said that he wanted answers following the allegations reported by The Wall Street Journal last month and that he would call for Guilfoyle’s dismissal if the behavior outlined in the news report was true.
The Journal reported that Guilfoyle told guests at a reception that the U.S. could undermine the Greek government if it chose to, promoted the business interests of one particular Greek construction and energy company, and allowed its lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings.
Some Greek opposition parties have called for an inquiry into the allegations, but it's unclear if they will proceed.
Guilfoyle, a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor who was once engaged to Trump’s son Donald Jr., has denied any wrongdoing, and Rubio has defended her before.
Guilfoyle, Rubio said after the Journal story appeared, “has been an incredible advocate for the president’s agenda in Greece and across Europe.” Rubio said he and Trump greatly value the ambassador’s “pivotal work and leadership,” notably on energy issues.
The Trump administration sees Greece as key to advancing the promotion and export of U.S.-produced liquefied natural gas to Southeastern and Central Europe.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio boards a plane Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, at Keflavik Airport in Iceland. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. ambassador to Iceland Billy Long attends a joint press conference held by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Iceland's Foreign Minister Thorgerour Katrín Gunnarsdottir at the House of Collections, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Reykjavik, Iceland. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir attends a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the House of Collections, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Reykjavik, Iceland. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference with Iceland's Foreign Minister Thorgerour Katrín Gunnarsdottir at the House of Collections, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Reykjavik, Iceland. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference with Iceland's Foreign Minister Thorgerour Katrín Gunnarsdottir at the House of Collections, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Reykjavik, Iceland. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference with Iceland's Foreign Minister Thorgerour Katrín Gunnarsdottir at the House of Collections, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Reykjavik, Iceland. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives at Keflavik Airport, Iceland, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is welcomed by Iceland's Foreign Minister Thorgerour Katrín Gunnarsdottir, center, and by Chief of Protocol Helga Hauksdottir, as he arrives at Keflavik Airport, Iceland, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026.(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, is welcomed by Iceland's Foreign Minister Thorgerour Katrín Gunnarsdottir, center, and William Long, the U.S. Ambassador to Iceland, as he arrives at Keflavik Airport, Iceland, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
