Argentina’s Messi chapter now comes to a close

Lionel Messi was at the centre of Argentina’s football story for more than two decades, and now his story has reached its final chapter.

Messi has announced his retirement from international football, ending a remarkable journey with Argentina that began in 2005 and transformed him from a prodigious young talent into the country’s most celebrated footballer and captain.

The decision came seven weeks after Argentina’s 1-0 defeat to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final. Messi stood on the pitch in tears, looking towards the Argentine supporters. At the time, few could have known that it would be his final appearance in the famous blue-and-white shirt.

However, Messi had already made his decision.

In a handwritten note dated July 21, just two days after the final, the 39-year-old wrote that he wanted to leave the national team. He made the decision public only after the death of his father, Jorge, in August.

Messi said the decision “hurts my soul”, but added that he had nothing more to give. He also said a new generation of Argentine players was ready to take their place.

For Argentine fans, the announcement has brought heartbreak, but also a deep sense of gratitude.

For an entire generation, Messi became the face of Argentine football and a player whose career with the national team was defined as much by struggle as by success.

His international journey began in 2005. The early years were anything but straightforward. Despite his extraordinary performances at club level, Messi faced relentless criticism for failing to deliver a major international trophy with Argentina.

After losing the 2016 Copa América final, he announced his international retirement for the first time.

He came back.

What followed changed the story forever.

Messi led Argentina to the Copa América title in 2021 and ended a long wait for a major international trophy. A year later came the defining achievement: the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Argentina’s triumph turned Messi’s relationship with the national team on its head. The player once criticised for not winning with Argentina was now the captain who had delivered the biggest prize in world football.

Another Copa América title followed in 2024, further cementing his place in Argentine football history.

He leaves the national team as Argentina’s record appearance maker, with 207 caps and 125 goals. During the 2022 World Cup, he also scored in every knockout round of Argentina’s campaign.

Those numbers tell only part of the story.

For millions of Argentines, Messi’s significance lies not simply in goals and trophies, but in the emotional journey attached to them. They watched him endure years of criticism, come close to glory and fall short, walk away, return, and eventually lift the trophies that had once seemed beyond his reach.

His final goodbye therefore carries the weight of an era.

Argentina must now confront a reality it has spent years avoiding: the national team has to learn how to play without Lionel Messi.

That transition may not mean the end of his football career. Messi could still have several years ahead of him at Inter Miami, where his contract runs through 2028.

But international football is different.

The blue-and-white shirt has been part of Messi’s identity since he was a teenager. For more than 20 years, every tournament brought the same question: could Messi lead Argentina to glory?

Now there is a different question: Who comes next?

Argentina has a new generation of players ready to inherit the responsibility, but replacing Messi is not simply a matter of filling a position on the pitch. It means replacing a player who became the emotional centre of a national team and the symbol of an entire generation.

For Argentina, the challenge is to build a future that no longer revolves around him.

For Messi, the challenge is different. He leaves having already achieved what once seemed impossible — and with his place in Argentine football history secure.

The tears after the World Cup final now look different. They were not only the emotions of a painful defeat. They were, unknowingly, the beginning of a farewell.

The greatest chapter of Messi’s international career is over.

And for a world that has spent more than two decades watching him play for Argentina, there is only one question left: How much time is left to watch Lionel Messi at all?