Messi retires from Argentina after World Cup, ending decade that nearly never arrived
Lionel Messi retired from international football on Monday as Argentina's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, following the 2026 World Cup in which he scored eight goals and registered four assists. His decision closes a spell that included World Cup victory in 2022 and Copa America wins in 2021 and 2024 and began with a public retirement in June 2016.
On 26 June 2016 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, two days after his 29th birthday and after missing a penalty in Argentina's Copa America final loss to Chile in a shootout, Messi announced he would stop playing for his country, saying: "For me, the national team is over. I've done all I can. It hurts not to be a champion." At that point he had made 113 appearances and the announcement followed Argentina defeats in the 2014 World Cup final and Copa America finals in 2007, 2015 and 2016.
The retirement lasted six weeks before Messi reversed his decision on 12 August, saying he would play on for the "love of the country"; he later explained on his return: "I love this country and this shirt too much," and added, "I'm grateful to all the people who wanted me to continue playing with Argentina. Hopefully we can give them something to cheer about soon." Since that U-turn, the article says, Messi played a further 94 times and scored another 70 goals, finishing his Argentina career with 125 goals in 207 appearances.
Criticism from 2016 lingered in public debate: Diego Maradona had said weeks earlier, "He's a really good person, but he has no personality," and biographer Guillem Balague commented: "Leo goes really down when he loses. He felt the pressure of being the captain of Argentina and the Maradona thing. 'Pecho Frio, people in Argentina called him, which means cold chest. It was an insult to say he had milk in his veins. So when he failed in 2016 at the Copa America, that was the third time – the first time in public – he had decided to leave the national side. The two previous ones was a matter of letting him lick his wounds, but this one he came out and said I've had enough. He sometimes cannot help himself as he says what he thinks."
On the field, the turnaround produced sustained success: the article records that Messi "completed one of football's greatest ever stories," lifting four major trophies and becoming part of a run in which he did not win a senior international tournament until the age of 34 but then "went on to win four in barely three years, including the 2022 Finalissima." It also notes Messi became men's all-time leading World Cup scorer.
Argentina's mixed results between those moments are documented: they lost to France in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup, while at the 2026 tournament Messi scored eight goals and registered four assists as Argentina reached the final where they were beaten by Spain; that final took place in the same stadium where Messi had announced his 2016 retirement. The article adds that Messi's footballing future was clouded after the death of his father Jorge just three weeks after this year's World Cup final.
Public and official reaction to the 2016 announcement reportedly mounted quickly: goalkeeper Sergio Romero said, "I can't imagine a national team without Messi," the hashtag #NoTeVayasMessi was used more than 20,000 times within 24 hours, and Argentina's President Mauricio Macri said: "I told him not to pay any attention to the comments being made because, in truth, we are very happy" with the job he has done. The mayor of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, unveiled a statue and said: "As a football fan, Leo, I am asking you to please reconsider your decision." The article records that thousands of fans gathered in central Buenos Aires and that street signs displayed pleas for him to continue.
Edgardo Bauza replaced Gerardo Martino as Argentina coach in August 2016 after the Copa America defeat, lasted eight months and travelled to Barcelona to persuade Messi to return. With Messi gone and then back, the national debate and campaigns around his future are cited as pivotal to the next decade of Argentina football.
Messi's decision now appears final and, at 39, another comeback looks unlikely; South American football writer Tim Vickery said an official farewell in Argentina could be considered, warning: "Remember that, as a result of their behaviour at the World Cup, the next game Argentina play on home soil will only be in front of a crowd at 50% capacity," and adding: "But once those punishments are out of the way, I'm sure it will be in the mind of the Argentina FA: 'Why don't we hold a game back in Buenos Aires? River Plate, they have the biggest capacity in South America. Why don't we do an official farewell there? What do you think about it, Lionel? One last time?'."