Messi hints at retirement after father's death, recalls career milestones
Lionel Messi has said he may retire from football following the death of his father, Jorge, in an emotional tribute reported on 12 August 2026, telling reporters: "I don't know how to carry on. I used to just play football, and now I'm really not sure if I'll carry on doing it for much longer." The 39-year-old Argentina forward has scored a combined 921 goals for Barcelona, Paris St-Germain, Inter Miami and Argentina and his World Cup triumph in 2022 is described here as the greatest moment of his career.
Messi's career highlights range from early breakout displays to late international success, with landmark performances that include club records, multiple Ballon d'Or awards and major trophies for Argentina. He became a global name after a hat-trick in El Clasico on 10 March 2007 and produced a solo goal against Getafe on 18 April 2007 that drew comparisons with Diego Maradona's 1986 run. Over two decades he accumulated four Champions League titles and left Barcelona in August 2021 after 21 years with the club.
At 19 he scored all three goals in a 3-3 draw with Real Madrid at the Camp Nou on 10 March 2007, his first Camp Nou goal and first career hat-trick. A month later, on 18 April 2007, he scored in a 5-2 Copa del Rey semi-final first leg against Getafe with a run from his own half that ended by going around the goalkeeper and slotting home.
Messi rose to head Xavi's cross in the 2009 Champions League final against Manchester United, scoring in his first final against that opponent, and he scored again in a subsequent final two years later to claim the third of his four Champions League winners' medals. He recorded four or more goals in a match on seven occasions for Barcelona, including a 4-1 Champions League quarter-final home-leg win over Arsenal in 2010 where his chip over Manuel Almunia completed his hat-trick, and a five-goal haul in a 7-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the 2012 last-16.
Messi became Barcelona's all-time top scorer with a hat-trick in a 5-3 win over Granada on 20 March 2012, equalling César Rodríguez's 232 goals with the first of the three and then breaking the record; by the time he left the club in 2021 he had extended that mark to 672 goals. In 2012 he scored 91 goals in 69 games — 79 for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina — a tally that entered the Guinness Book of Records and helped him win a fourth consecutive Ballon d'Or.
He broke La Liga's scoring record with a hat-trick in a 5-1 win over Sevilla on 22 November 2014, equalling Telmo Zarra's 251-goal mark with a free-kick before surpassing it and finishing with 474 La Liga goals compared with Cristiano Ronaldo's 311. On 23 April 2017 he scored an injury-time winner at Real Madrid — his 500th Barcelona goal — and celebrated by taking off his shirt and holding it out to the Bernabéu. The almost unthinkable occurred in August 2021 when he left Barcelona on a free transfer; at his press conference he said: "My family and I were convinced we were going to stay here, at home. "I don't want to leave this club - it's a club I love and this is a moment I didn't expect." He subsequently joined Paris St-Germain.
Internationally, Messi won his first senior trophy on 11 July 2021 when Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in the Copa América final at the Maracanã; he was named player of the tournament after scoring four goals. He won a second Copa América three years later and secured the World Cup in 2022, scoring two goals in the final and converting his effort in the shootout as Argentina beat France on penalties after a 3-3 draw; he finished the tournament with seven goals and was named the World Cup's best player. After leaving Barcelona he won further Ballon d'Or awards at Paris St-Germain and Inter Miami, his eighth coming in October 2023 following the World Cup and Inter Miami's Leagues Cup triumph, saying: "I couldn't imagine having the career I've had and everything I've achieved, the fortune I've had to be part of the best team in history," and adding: "All of them [Ballon d'Or awards] are special for different reasons."
Messi played a key role in Argentina's World Cup semi-final win against England and his eight goals in that tournament took his World Cup total to 21 until Kylian Mbappé moved past that tally to 22 in the Bronze Final defeat by England; aged 39 Messi's 2026 World Cup ended in defeat to Spain in the final. He remains under contract as an Inter Miami player until 2028.
