Lionel Messi Announces Retirement From Argentina National Team After Historic International Career
Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from international football at the age of 39, bringing an extraordinary chapter of his career with Argentina to an end after more than two decades representing the national team and winning the sport’s biggest trophies.
Messi confirmed the decision Monday through a handwritten message published on his official Instagram account, explaining that the choice was painful but that he believes the time has arrived for him to step away from the Argentina national team.
The Argentina captain said he had given everything he could to the national team throughout his career and now feels there is little more he can contribute, while also pointing to the emergence of younger players who deserve opportunities with the country.
Messi revealed that he had actually written his retirement message on July 21, just two days after Argentina suffered a 1-0 extra-time defeat against Spain in the 2026 World Cup final, but waited before making the announcement publicly.
The death of his father, Jorge Messi, who died at the age of 68 on Aug. 8 following a long illness, ultimately strengthened Messi’s belief that the moment had arrived to close his international career.
The decision marks the conclusion of one of the most remarkable international careers in football history, with Messi leaving Argentina as the nation’s record appearance holder and all-time leading scorer after making 207 appearances and scoring 125 goals.
Messi made his senior Argentina debut in 2005 in a friendly against Hungary, entering the match as a substitute before receiving a straight red card less than a minute after coming onto the field following an incident involving Hungarian defender Vilmos Vanczak.
That difficult beginning ultimately gave way to an international career that established Messi as one of Argentina’s greatest sporting figures, alongside Diego Maradona, as he eventually helped the national team end decades of frustration on the international stage.
After several painful defeats in major finals, Messi finally captured the Copa América in 2021, ending Argentina’s 28-year wait for a major senior international trophy, before adding another Copa América title in 2024.
The defining achievement of his international career arrived at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where Messi captained Argentina to the championship and secured the trophy that had remained the most significant missing piece of his extraordinary career.
Argentina reached another World Cup final in 2026, but Messi and his teammates were unable to defend their title after Spain claimed victory in the tournament’s final.
Messi scored eight goals and provided four assists during the 2026 World Cup, while also strengthening his record for World Cup assists to 12, including 10 during knockout-stage matches, a total that no other player has surpassed according to the records cited in the source material.
Across six World Cup appearances, Messi scored 21 goals, leaving him second on the tournament’s all-time scoring list behind France forward Kylian Mbappé, who has 22 goals.
His 125 international goals also place him second among all men’s international scorers, with Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo holding the record with 146 goals for his country.
Messi’s relationship with Argentina has included moments of immense triumph as well as periods of severe disappointment, including his first retirement from international football in 2016 following Argentina’s defeat to Chile in the Copa América final.
That loss came after Messi missed his penalty during the shootout, and it followed Argentina’s defeats in three consecutive major finals, prompting him to temporarily walk away from international football before eventually reversing the decision.
He returned to the national team and went on to become the central figure in Argentina’s most successful period of the modern era, helping the country win the 2021 and 2024 Copa América tournaments before reaching the pinnacle with the 2022 World Cup triumph.
Messi’s departure from international football does not mean the end of his playing career, as he is expected to continue competing at club level with Major League Soccer side Inter Miami, where his contract is scheduled to run through 2028.
The forward recently produced another remarkable performance for Inter Miami, scoring four goals in a single MLS match against CF Montréal as the club secured a 7-1 victory.
For Argentina, however, the era of Messi leading the national team on the field is now over, with the country facing the challenge of moving forward without the player who has been at the center of its football identity for much of the past 20 years.
The Argentina national team responded to Messi’s announcement with a message of gratitude, saying the country would continue to love him and thanking him for everything he had given to the national team.
Messi, meanwhile, said he would now watch Argentina from the sidelines rather than from the pitch, expressing gratitude to his family, teammates, coaches and supporters for accompanying him through a career filled with both extraordinary achievements and difficult moments.
His international career ends with Argentina’s most important trophies secured, national records firmly in his possession and a legacy that places him among the most influential players ever to wear the blue-and-white jersey.