Lionel Messi announced Monday that he is retiring from international soccer, ending nearly two decades representing Argentina’s national team at age 39.
Messi shared the news in an Instagram post showing a handwritten notebook entry written in Spanish. In it, he said the decision hurt deeply but that he understood the time had come, adding that he had always given everything for the jersey, both during Argentina’s recent championship years and in the harder seasons before that.
A footnote at the end of the letter revealed Messi had written it shortly after Argentina’s loss to Spain in this year’s World Cup final, though sources gave differing dates for when he wrote it. One account said the letter was written July 21, two days after the final, while another cited June 21. Messi said he held off publishing it because his father, Jorge Messi, was facing declining health at the time. Jorge Messi died August 8 at a hospital in Rosario, Argentina, at age 68. In the footnote, Messi wrote that his father’s death had made him even more certain of his decision to retire.
What We Know So Far
Messi made his senior national team debut in 2006, and his path to major international success was marked by years of near misses before he finally lifted the World Cup trophy in 2022, ending Argentina’s 36 year wait for the title and delivering the country’s third World Cup overall. He had also played a central role in ending Argentina’s 28 year trophy drought by winning the Copa America in 2021, then winning the tournament again in 2024.
Messi is Argentina’s all time leading goal scorer and most capped player, with 124 goals in 203 appearances for the national team, and holds the record as the highest scoring player in South American soccer history. He played in six World Cups across his international career, culminating in this year’s tournament, where Argentina reached the final before losing to Spain.
In his retirement letter, Messi thanked fans for their support over the past 20 years and said he would miss hearing them from the field, adding that he now looked forward to supporting the team as a fan himself, through good times and bad. He thanked his family, coaches, teammates and officials who had shared the journey with him, saying he was leaving with pride and peace of mind after helping deliver moments the country had once only dreamed of. He did not specify how much longer he intends to continue playing professional club soccer.
This is not the first time Messi has stepped away from international play. He previously announced his retirement from the national team in 2016 after captaining Argentina through three consecutive tournament finals without a title, before reversing that decision and eventually leading the country to its 2022 World Cup win.
Messi continues to play for Inter Miami, the Major League Soccer club he captains, and scored four goals in a 7-1 win over CF Montreal over the weekend.
Why This Matters
Messi’s retirement closes the international chapter of a career widely regarded among the greatest in the sport’s history, one that finally delivered Argentina’s long sought World Cup title in 2022 after decades of near misses at previous tournaments. His decision to step back now, following a second World Cup final defeat and shortly after his father’s death, reflects both a natural career transition point at age 39 and the emotional weight of recent personal loss described in his own account of the decision.
The timing also raises questions about the makeup of Argentina’s national team going forward, given Messi’s explicit acknowledgment in his letter that a new generation of talented young players deserves the opportunity to lead the program. His continued presence at Inter Miami suggests his professional playing career is not yet over, even as his international duty concludes, distinguishing this retirement from a full retirement from the sport.
What Happens Next
Argentina’s national team will need to navigate its future without Messi as captain, a transition that had already been anticipated given his age but that now becomes an immediate reality following Monday’s announcement. It remains unclear whether Messi will make any additional public statements or attend team activities as he formally steps back from the squad.
Messi is expected to continue playing for Inter Miami for the foreseeable future, though he has not specified a timeline for his broader retirement from professional club soccer.
Reporting drawn from the Associated Press and ESPN
