Goodbye, Argentina: Lionel Messi announces retirement from national team

Lionel Messi has ended his nearly two-decade career with Argentina’s national team, announcing the decision through social media after the country lost the 2026 World Cup final to Spain.

Argentina, the reigning world champion, reached the final but could not retain its title. Spain won 1-0 after Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute. Messi said he had already begun drafting his retirement message on July 21, two days after the final, and that his father’s death on Aug. 8 made him more certain about ending this chapter.

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After all this time since the final and after a great deal of thought, I want to announce to everyone that I am retiring from the national team. It was a decision that hurt me, and still hurts me, deep in my soul, but I understand that the time is right.

“After all this time since the final and after a great deal of thought, I want to announce to everyone that I am retiring from the national team,” Messi wrote. “It was a decision that hurt me, and still hurts me, deep in my soul, but I understand that the time is right.”

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I gave everything I had, I have nothing left to offer, and besides, there are some great young players coming through behind me who deserve to be there.

Messi said he had always given everything for the Argentina shirt, including before the team’s recent successes. “I gave everything I had, I have nothing left to offer, and besides, there are some great young players coming through behind me who deserve to be there,” he wrote.

He thanked supporters for their love over 20 years and said he would now support the team from the sidelines. “Thank God for making me Argentine!” Messi wrote, ending with a message of love for Argentina, his family, coaches, teammates and managers. “I leave with peace of mind and pride that, together with my teammates, I gave you some truly dreamlike moments.”

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Thank God for making me Argentine!