Messi announces retirement from Argentina national team at 39 | OneFootball

Lionel Messi, the Argentine star aged 39, has announced that he has decided to bring his international career to an end, and will no longer represent La Albiceleste from now on.

"After all this time since the final, after thinking about it a lot, I want to tell everyone that I am retiring from the national team… It was a decision that hurt, and still hurts deep down, but I understand that the time has come. I swear I have always given everything I had, not only in recent years when we won it all, but also before that; I have always fought and given everything for this shirt, to bring you joy and make you proud to be Argentine through football," begins the message posted on the player’s social media accounts.

"There is very little left and the stages are closing, and this is one that hurts me a lot. I have always loved, and will always love, being part of the national team. I have given everything I had; I have nothing else left to give, and besides, there are very talented young players coming through who deserve to be there. Thank you for all the affection over these 20 years. I will miss hearing you from the inside very much. Now I will be one of you, cheering and supporting from the outside as always (in the good times and the bad, even more so)" he adds.

In that same post, Messi also reveals that he wrote this text back on 21 July, just two days after the final of the World Cup 2026, where Argentina were defeated by Spain (1-0), missing out on the desired World champions title.

Behind him lies a long, vast and glorious love story between Messi and the Albiceleste. In Argentina’s colours, the Inter Miami forward played a total of 207 matches, scoring 125 goals and providing 65 assists. He helped his national team win one World Cup (2022), two Copa América titles, the Gold Medal at the Olympic Games in 2008, in Beijing, as well as the 2022 Intercontinental Finalissima for national teams.