{"id":7263,"date":"2026-08-31T22:02:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T22:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=7263"},"modified":"2026-08-31T22:02:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T22:02:23","slug":"lionel-messi-has-said-goodbye-to-argentina-before-this-time-its-for-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=7263","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi Has Said Goodbye To Argentina Before; This Time It&#039;s For Good"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            BROWSE BY\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>As the tears streamed down Lionel Messi\u2019s cheeks in the moments after Spain beat Messi\u2019s Argentina in extra time of last month&#8217;s FIFA World Cup final, the greatest player in soccer history must have known in his heart that he\u2019d never pull the famous sky-blue-and-white-striped Albiceleste jersey on again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>Messi made it official on Monday, announcing his retirement from the national team led to three World Cup and five Copa Am\u00e9rica finals \u2014 winning the last two editions of the latter and the world title in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>In an Instagram post, the 39-year-old said that he made the decision to walk away from his national team after 207 appearances and 125 goals two days after that brutal loss to La Roja in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Messi, who will continue to play at club level with MLS champions Inter Miami, added that the death of his father, Jorge, earlier this month in the family\u2019s hometown of Rosario only cemented his decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>There will be no going back this time.<\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by Maja Hitij &#8211; FIFA\/FIFA via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>It\u2019s fitting that the 80,000-seat stadium just west of New York City was the sight of Messi\u2019s final act on the global stage. It was in that building that Messi first walked away from the Albiceleste almost exactly a decade earlier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>In the bowels of the venue two hours after Chile beat Argentina on penalties to claim the 2016 Copa Am\u00e9rica Centenario, Messi \u2014 who\u2019d missed his shootout attempt en route to defeat \u2014 shocked the sporting world when he told reporters that he was done representing his country in the wake of an ongoing feud between the players and the Argentine Football Association.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>The then-Barcelona star was smack in his prime, having just turned 29. He\u2019d already won the UEFA Champions League four times, won five Ballon d\u2019Or awards and was already considered the GOAT despite the lack of trophies in international play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>Media members in attendance (I was one of them) instantly went from covering the biggest game in global soccer that day to the biggest news story in every corner of the planet.<\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by Simon Bruty \/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>Eventually, cooler heads prevailed. Messi never even missed a game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>In his post on Monday, Messi addressed Argentina\u2019s fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>\"I always fought and left everything on the field for this jersey, to bring you joy and make you feel proud to be Argentine through football,\" he wrote. \"Thank you for all the affection over these past 20 years. I will miss hearing you from the pitch so much.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>It\u2019s soccer fans who should be thanking him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>By choosing to stick around, think about how much joy Messi has given not just his compatriots but all soccer lovers over the last decade. After another World Cup heartbreak in 2018, when Argentina was eliminated by eventual champs France, Messi led the Albiceleste on an unprecedented run of success. They beat blood rival Brazil in the Maracana to claim their South American title \u2014 his first at senior level for Argentina \u2014 in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>Messi crowning achievement arrived at long last the following year, when he scored eight goals \u2014 including two in the World Cup final win over Les Bleus \u2014 to help Argentina triumph for the first time since Diego Maradona\u2019s team did it in 1986.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span>(Photo by David Ramos - FIFA\/FIFA via Getty Images)<\/span> --><\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>That tournament was billed as Messi\u2019s final chance to collect the only trophy he hadn\u2019t won. For good reason: Ahead of the competition, Messi said that Qatar 2022 would be his last World Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>Yet before even leaving an empty Lusail Stadium outside Doha in the wee hours of Dec. 19, Messi gave both his countrymen and neutral fans alike another gift, saying he\u2019d continue as long as coach Lionel Scaloni would have him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>In 2024, Argentina then made it three titles in a row by winning another Copa, joining Spain\u2019s legendary 2008-12 squad as the only national teams to win consecutive continental championships on either side of a World Cup victory.<\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by Carmen Mandato\/Getty Images)<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>Still, it was fair to wonder then if Messi would last until 2026. Or how effective he would be if he did. Age and injuries catch up to every player eventually. Perhaps not to jinx himself, Messi wouldn\u2019t confirm his participation in the Canada\/Mexico\/USA-hosted before Scaloni named him to Argentina\u2019s 26-man roster weeks before the tourney kicked off.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>Any doubts about Messi's match-winning ability evaporated when the World Cup began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>Messi scored all three goals \u2014 his first career World Cup hat trick \u2014 in Argentina\u2019s group stage-opening 3-0 drubbing of Algeria. He again finished with eight, becoming the World Cup\u2019s all-time leading scorer along the way. His two late assists in a 2-1 comeback win over England were otherworldly, and he had perhaps Argentina\u2019s best chance to equalize in extra time against Spain, only for Pau Cubars\u00ed to save what appeared to be a goal-bound shot with his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>In a funny way, how Messi performed this summer in defeat might be even more impressive than his showing four years ago, when he was surrounded by a stronger and younger supporting cast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>Messi gave us all a gift by un-retiring not once but twice. It\u2019s one reason why, until Monday, there was some hope that Messi might continue donning Argentina\u2019s colors for another four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>In retrospect, that was always wishful thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>It\u2019s always sad when a legend hangs up their boots, let alone the incomparable Messi. The end of an era is here. We were lucky to witness for a little longer than it might have lasted.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>\"I've given everything I had; I have nothing left to give; he wrote. \"I leave with the peace of mind and pride of having given you \u2014 alongside my teammates \u2014 moments we once only dreamed of. It was an incredible experience to live this with you all.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-0a453225>It was a privilege, Leo. The pleasure was ours.<\/p>\n\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BROWSE BY As the tears streamed down Lionel Messi\u2019s cheeks in the moments after Spain beat Messi\u2019s Argentina in extra time of last month&#8217;s FIFA World Cup final, the greatest player in soccer history must have known in his heart that he\u2019d never pull the famous sky-blue-and-white-striped Albiceleste jersey on again. Messi made it official [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}