“It's solely up to him”: Tapia urged calm over Messi's Argentina future | OneFootball

Claudio Tapia sought to reassure everyone about the future of Lionel Messi with the Argentina National Team and urged people not to rush into speculation about a possible farewell from the captain after the 2026 World Cup. The AFA president, speaking exclusively with TyC Sports, stressed that the Rosario-born star’s continuity “will depend exclusively” on his own will and recalled that before the last World Cup there had not been certainty about his participation either.

Chiqui expanded on this in an interview with Presión Alta: “It’s purely his personal decision. We have to let him be at ease. In 2022 we didn’t know if he was going to play in 2026; he said it was one match at a time, and I think we saw a great version—if not the best version—of Leo at a World Cup. We have to let him keep enjoying playing football, and then let him make the decision he feels is the right one.”

Messi capped off the World Cup with a display of class that defied the passage of time, establishing himself as the tactical heart and main attacking figure of the runner-up Argentina National Team. Despite the painful defeat in the final against Spain, the star had a monumental tournament with eight goals and four assists, delivering memorable nights such as his hat-trick against Algeria in the opener and key passes in the decisive stages against Switzerland and England.

“Leo had a great World Cup, we enjoyed him a lot and we have to feel proud. I enjoyed every moment. Without a doubt, he was the standard-bearer of this group at the World Cup. If you stop to analyze the tournament he had, for me he was the best player. He kept breaking records match after match,” Chiqui said on the matter.

In closing, Tapia admitted that what he would keep as a memory of the World Cup with Messi was “every hug after every match.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.