For a player whose Argentina career included painful defeats, criticism, international retirement and eventual redemption, the final match provided an almost perfect sporting ending. Argentina is confronting a once-unimaginable reality: a national team without soccer great Lionel Messi. Key points and original sources are listed below.

• For a player whose Argentina career included painful defeats, criticism, international retirement and eventual redemption, the final match provided an almost perfect sporting ending.S1

• Argentina is confronting a once-unimaginable reality: a national team without soccer great Lionel Messi.S2