Lionel Messi announced his retirement from the Argentina national team after two decades of service, a decision he said was driven by personal grief following his father’s death.
The 38-year-old forward, who captained Argentina to the 2022 FIFA World Cup triumph in Qatar, also guided the squad to the 2024 final, where they fell to Spain in extra time.
Messi’s farewell comes after a tournament in which he appeared in all eight matches, scoring eight goals and finishing just one strike behind Kylian Mbappé for the Golden Boot.
His 125 goals for Argentina make him the country’s all-time leading scorer, including 21 strikes in World Cup competition.
In a handwritten letter dated July 21, 2024, Messi explained that the loss of his father, Jorge Messi, on August 8, 2024, forced him to delay publishing his thoughts until he could find the right words.
Although stepping away from international duty, the star will continue his club career with Inter Miami, where he recently contributed four goals in a 7-1 victory over CF Montreal.
Messi’s journey began in 2006, a period marked by early setbacks before he rose to become a global icon, collecting Copa America titles in 2021 and 2024.
A Legacy Defined by Triumph and Tragedy
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni described the forward as pure history, emphasizing that Messi’s impact transcends statistics.
The retirement echoes a brief retirement attempt in 2016, shortly after Argentina’s Copa America loss to Chile, when a missed penalty had prompted the player to contemplate an earlier exit.