Lionel Messi Retires From Argentina: World Cup Champion Ends International Career
Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from Argentina's national team at the age of 39, bringing an end to one of the greatest international careers in football history.
Argentina's captain confirmed the decision on Monday through a handwritten message posted on social media.
Messi said the decision had been painful but that he believed the time had come to close his chapter with the national team.
“I am retiring from the national team,” Messi said in his message, explaining that he had given everything he had to the Argentina shirt.
Messi's final Argentina appearance came in the World Cup final.
Messi's last match for Argentina came in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final against Spain.
Argentina reached the final after another impressive tournament campaign, but Spain won the match 1-0, denying Messi a second World Cup title.
The final also brought an unexpected end to Messi's international career. According to his statement, he had already written his retirement message on July 21, two days after the World Cup final.
He decided to make the announcement public later.
Messi also referred to the death of his father, Jorge Messi, who died on August 8 at the age of 68. The Argentina captain said the loss had made him even more certain about his decision.
A career that changed Argentina's history
Messi's international career began in 2005 and lasted more than two decades.
For many years, the Barcelona great faced criticism for not winning a major international trophy with Argentina despite reaching several finals.
That changed dramatically in 2021.
Messi led Argentina to the Copa América title, ending the country's long wait for a major senior men's international trophy.
A year later came the biggest achievement of his career.
Argentina defeated France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final in Qatar, with Messi finally lifting the World Cup trophy that had eluded him throughout his career.
He subsequently helped Argentina win another Copa América title in 2024.
Messi leaves with remarkable Argentina records
Messi finishes his international career as Argentina's all-time leading goalscorer and most-capped player.
ESPN reports that he scored 124 goals in 203 appearances for Argentina, while Reuters' latest report lists him at 207 appearances and 125 goals. The discrepancy appears to reflect differences in statistical counting, but both sources agree that Messi holds Argentina's major appearance and scoring records.
His international résumé includes:
FIFA World Cup winner in 2022 FIFA World Cup runner-up in 2014 and 2026 Copa América winner in 2021 Copa América winner in 2024 Argentina's leading international goalscorer Argentina's most-capped player
From heartbreak to historic success
Messi's Argentina story was not always filled with celebrations.
He suffered defeat in the 2014 World Cup final against Germany and lost three major finals in a short period before Argentina's breakthrough at the 2021 Copa América.
In 2016, after Argentina lost the Copa América final to Chile, Messi briefly announced his international retirement.
He later reversed that decision and returned to the national team.
That comeback ultimately produced the most successful period in Argentina's modern football history.
The Copa América triumph in 2021 was followed by the 2022 World Cup and another Copa América title in 2024.
What happens to Messi now?
Messi's retirement applies to international football and does not mean he is retiring from professional football altogether.
The 39-year-old continues his club career with Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.
His decision therefore closes his Argentina chapter while allowing him to continue playing at the club level.
For Argentina, however, the search for a new leader begins.
Messi leaves behind a generation that delivered trophies after years of disappointment and established one of the most successful periods in the country's football history.
His final Argentina match may have ended with a defeat, but his international legacy is defined by much more than that result.
The World Cup in Qatar, two Copa América titles, and more than two decades wearing the Argentina shirt have secured Messi's place among the country's greatest sporting figures.
And after years of questions about whether he would ever lift a major trophy with Argentina, Messi walks away having achieved the one prize he wanted most: the World Cup.
