Lionel Messi has retired from international football, ending a 21-year career with Argentina after his team’s defeat to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final.
Messi, 39, announced the decision in a statement posted on Instagram on Aug. 31, saying, “The time has come to say goodbye to the national team.
He leaves Argentina as the team’s all-time leading goal scorer and most capped player, with 125 goals in 207 games.
The decision follows Argentina’s appearance in the 2026 World Cup final in New York and New Jersey, where they lost to Spain 1-0 in extra time. Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in the 106th minute. Messi scored eight goals and had four assists in the tournament.
Messi began his international career in 2005. He made his debut as a sub in the game against Hungary but was sent off after less than two minutes on the pitch.
There were a number of major disappointments in his early years with Argentina, including defeats in the 2014 World Cup final and the 2015 and 2016 Copa América finals.
He briefly stepped away from international football in 2016 following Argentina’s Copa América final defeat to Chile but later had a change of heart.
That changed at the 2021 Copa América, where Messi won his first major senior international title with Argentina. A year later, he captained the team to the 2022 World Cup title in Qatar, scoring twice in the final against France and earning the tournament’s Golden Ball.
In 2024, Messi earned his third major senior international title with Argentina, claiming another Copa América trophy.
His last World Cup appearance was in 2026. Argentina stumbled against Spain, but Messi finished the tournament with eight goals and four assists.
He leaves with 21 World Cup goals, second on the tournament’s all-time scoring list behind France’s Kylian Mbappé.
Messi’s retirement comes after the death of his father, Jorge Messi, 68, earlier this month. Jorge had been his son’s adviser and representative for decades and had been closely involved in his career.
After the death of his father, Messi said that he had questioned how long he could continue playing football. He announced later, after the World Cup was over, that he would retire from Argentina.
Messi isn’t retiring from professional football altogether. He is signed to Major League Soccer club Inter Miami through the end of the 2028 MLS season.
His exit from Argentina marks the end of one of the longest and most decorated international careers in modern football. He departs the national team having won the World Cup and two Copa América titles and with the appearance and goals records that now sit at the top of Argentina’s all-time charts.
Argentina’s next chapter begins without the man who led the country through its most successful era in more than three decades.
