(NEW YORK) — Soccer legend Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international soccer on Monday, saying he will no longer play for the Argentina national team.
“After the time that passed since the final, thinking about it a lot, I want to communicate to everyone that I am retiring from the national team,” Messi wrote in Spanish, in a message shared on Instagram. “It was a decision that hurt and hurts my soul, but I understand that this is the moment.”
He continued, “I swear to you that I always gave everything, not only the last few years where everything was won, but also before and I always fought and left everything for this shirt, to give them joy and make them feel proud to be Argentines through football.”
Messi last played for Argentina in the 2026 World Cup, where the team lost in the finals to Spain, 2-1.
The 39-year-old continues to play professional soccer as a forward for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, where he has played since 2023.
Messi shared on Instagram that he first wrote his goodbye message in July, shortly after Argentina lost the World Cup title. Less than one month later, on Aug. 8, Messi’s father, Jorge, died, which the soccer star said reinforced his decision to retire.
“I wrote these words on July 21, two days after the final. Today after my dad, I’m more convinced than before,” Messi wrote.
Messi, himself a father of three sons, played 19 seasons for Argentina. He retires as the team’s captain and all-time leading goal scorer and as the highest-scoring man in South American soccer history, according to ESPN.
Messi helped lead Argentina to a World Cup win over France in 2022, the country’s first World Cup title in over 30 years.
There was speculation that this year’s World Cup could be the last for Messi. Argentina lost to Spain in an extra-time match in front of more than 70,000 fans in New Jersey.
In his retirement announcement, which Messi wrote on notebook pages seen in a photo he shared on Instagram, the soccer star said he would miss the fans of Argentina and thanked the coaches and family members who helped him along the way.
“Thank you for all the love of these 20 years. I am going to miss hearing you from the inside very much. Now I am going to be one of you, always encouraging and supporting from the outside (in good times and bad, much more),” he wrote, later adding, “I leave with the tranquility and pride of having given you, together with my colleagues, dream moments. It was crazy to have lived it with you. I love you!”
Messi ended his message by writing, “Thank you God for making me Argentine. Let’s go Argentina!”
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