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Lionel Messi says he's retiring from playing internationally for Argentina
Confirmed
BREAKING: Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submits resignation after tensions with Pete Hegseth Lionel Messi has played his last game representing Argentina, the soccer star announced Monday. About a month after he had announced his retirement, Messi confirmed that he had reversed his decision and will be playing for Argentina in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from international football, thus ending a senior career with Argentina that started 21 years ago. September 2, 2011: First match as Argentina’s full-time captain The World Cup role was a temporary one but Messi was finally announced as Argentina’s regular captain by Alejandro Sabella in one of his first acts after being made the side’s new head coach.
“After all this time that has passed since the final, and after much thought, I want to announce to everyone that I am retiring from the National Team…” said Messi in the statement, which he posted on his Instagram account on Monday.
While playing for the giant Spanish club Barcelona, Messi quickly found success and rose to prominence as a transcendent talent in the early 2010s. "He is pure history," Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said during the recent World Cup.
In his post Monday, Messi explained that he wrote his retirement letter on June 21 — two days after losing the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. In a long social-media post, Messi explained he wrote his retirement letter on July 21 — two days after the World Cup final in which he struggled to make an impact — but waited to publish it because his father was facing health issues that eventually claimed his life.
"It was a decision that hurt — and still hurts deeply — but I understand that the time has come," the 39-year-old Messi said on his Instagram account. Another signed Messi jersey is this one from the 2026 World Cup.
Argentina surprisingly went behind against Egypt in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the 15th minute and it was only in 79th minute that they found an equaliser. The recent World Cup showed he's still one of the best players in the world, as did a four-goal display for Inter Miami at the weekend in a 7-1 victory over CF Montreal.
After his third Copa América final defeat in 2016, a loss that included a penalty miss by Messi in a shootout, Messi said , “For me, the national team is over. His World Cup performance this summer showed that Messi’s gifts for scoring had not been degraded by age.
What's confirmed
- "It was a decision that hurt — and still hurts deeply — but I understand that the time has come," the 39-year-old Messi said on his Instagram account.
- In a long social-media post, Messi explained he wrote his retirement letter on July 21 — two days after the World Cup final in which he struggled to make an impact — but waited to publish it because his father was…
- In his post Monday, Messi explained that he wrote his retirement letter on June 21 — two days after losing the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
- Another signed Messi jersey is this one from the 2026 World Cup.
What's still developing
- The recent World Cup showed he's still one of the best players in the world, as did a four-goal display for Inter Miami at the weekend in a 7-1 victory over CF Montreal.
- "He is pure history," Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said during the recent World Cup.
- Leandro Paredes, another Argentina teammate, said, "Thank you for absolutely everything.
- After his father's passing, Messi said he "didn't know how to keep going.
- BREAKING: Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submits resignation after tensions with Pete Hegseth Lionel Messi has played his last game representing Argentina, the soccer star announced Monday.
- While playing for the giant Spanish club Barcelona, Messi quickly found success and rose to prominence as a transcendent talent in the early 2010s.
- After his third Copa América final defeat in 2016, a loss that included a penalty miss by Messi in a shootout, Messi said , “For me, the national team is over.
- “We shouldn’t deify Messi any longer,” Maradona said in an interview with Fox Sports .