Messi Retires from International Football

At the age of 39, football legend Lionel Messi, who has won the world’s best player award eight times, announced his retirement from international football after more than two decades of a passionate career with his national team, which ended with a defeat in the 2026 World Cup final. Messi wrote on Instagram yesterday, “Some time has passed since the final, and after long reflection, I want to announce to everyone that I am retiring from the national team. It is a decision that still hurts me deeply, but I realize this is the right time.” He added in his post, “I swear I have always given everything I had, not only in recent years when we won everything, but also before that. I always fought and gave everything I had for this shirt.”

The Inter Miami star clarified in his message, which garnered more than three million likes within an hour of being posted, that he wrote these words on July 21, two days after Argentina’s 1-0 (after extra time) loss to Spain in the World Cup final near New York. He added that the subsequent deaths of his father and his business agent, Jorge Messi, strengthened his conviction that it was time to turn the page. Messi will continue playing club football with Inter Miami in the United States.

He had previously announced his international retirement for the first time after losing the 2016 Copa America final, before reversing his decision and returning to participate in the 2018 World Cup, and then achieving glory four years later in Qatar. Recently, in addition to the World Cup final loss to Spain on July 19 in New York, the Argentine was deeply affected by the death of his father, Jorge, at the age of 68. In mid-August, he stated that he no longer saw himself able to continue playing “for a long time.” At that time, he said, “I don’t know what I’ll do without you, and I don’t know how to go on. I’ve only ever played football, and now I have serious doubts about continuing to do so for much longer.”

Messi led Argentina to global glory by winning the 2022 World Cup after defeating France on penalties in the final in Doha. Messi’s contract with Inter Miami runs until the end of the 2028 season. He has played 207 matches for Argentina and is also the team’s all-time top scorer with 125 goals. He also won the Copa America twice during his 21-year international career. He said the time had come for a new generation of Argentine players to take the reins. He wrote, “I loved, I love, and I will always love being with the national team. I gave everything I had, and I have nothing left to give. Moreover, there are very talented young players coming up behind me who deserve to be here.”

His teammate in the national team and Inter Miami, Rodrigo De Paul, wrote, “Thank you, the greatest of all time. Thank you for giving us so much happiness; you can’t imagine how many smiles you’ve brought. You are immortal.” Angel Di Maria, who played alongside Messi for the national team and Paris Saint-Germain, wrote, “We will be grateful to you for our entire lives because you are Argentine, and because you lifted Argentina to the top of the world. Thank you, captain, thank you for everything. The best in history.”

The Argentine Football Association and CONMEBOL also praised “the immortal Messi” in posts on the X platform. Messi concluded his message by saying, “I leave feeling reassured and proud because I gave you, along with my teammates, dreamlike moments. It was incredible to live all of that with you. I love you. Thank God for making me Argentine.”