“I have nothing left to give.”
Argentina legend Lionel Messi has announced that he is calling time on his international career. Messi fans had long expected this announcement after the 2026 FIFA World Cup ended with Argentina losing to Spain in the final.
Still, the thought of never seeing that familiar No. 10 shirt, the captain's armband, and the 5 ft 7 in maestro leading Argentina onto the pitch again is heartbreaking for fans.
Since the announcement, social media has been flooded with tributes for the Argentine superstar as fans around the world bid farewell to one of football's greatest-ever international careers.
A nightmare start to an incredible journey
Messi made his debut for La Albiceleste in 2005. He was a 63rd-minute substitute during Argentina’s friendly against Hungary, but unfortunately, it was not the debut Messi would have imagined.
He was shown a straight red card less than a minute after coming on after swinging his arm, with his elbow connecting with full-back Vilmos Vanczak. It was an extraordinary beginning to what would become one of the greatest international careers in football history.
A decade of heartbreak with Argentina
Messi’s first decade with Argentina was one filled with heartbreak and tears. While the Argentine was doing wonders in club football, winning eight La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies with Barcelona, he couldn’t replicate the same success on the international stage.
Messi became Argentina’s captain in 2011 and went on to lead the team to the 2014 World Cup final, as well as the 2007, 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals. But he could not get Argentina over the line. After Argentina lost the 2016 Copa America final, the criticism came from everywhere.
The player that everybody had already classed as one of the greatest to ever play the sport was being questioned over whether he would ever win on the international stage. Messi was constantly compared to the ‘Golden Boy’, Diego Maradona, who had single-handedly led Argentina to the World Cup title in 1986.
Messi had not won a senior international trophy with Argentina until 2016, with his Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Games being his only major international honour. Maradona had also criticised the young Messi. “He's a really good person, but he has no personality. He lacks the character to be a leader.” The comparisons only intensified after another painful defeat in the 2016 Copa America final.
The retirement that shocked Argentina
Soon after the 2016 Copa America final, when Messi missed his penalty during the shootout against Chile at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, a disheartened 29-year-old announced his retirement from international football.
The decision sent shockwaves across Argentina. “For me, the national team is over. I've done all I can. It hurts not to be a champion,” Messi said after playing 113 games for his country.
But Argentina was not ready to let him go. Soon after Messi announced his retirement, the ‘Get Messi back’ campaign started immediately. His teammates called on him to change his decision. Argentina's President Mauricio Macri also phoned Messi to convince him to reconsider. After a lot of convincing from everyone, Messi decided to change his mind and reverse his decision.
And thus began another chapter of Messi's journey with Argentina, one that would eventually cement his legacy as the country's greatest footballer.
The wait for international glory
Still, success on the international stage did not come instantly to Messi. Argentina fell to France in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup. And once again, the chatter began that maybe Messi would never win on an international stage.
Messi had to wait until the age of 34 to finally win a major senior international trophy.
The breakthrough came in 2021, when Argentina beat Brazil to win the Copa America and give Messi his first major senior international trophy.
But one dream still remained. The World Cup.
The dream finally comes true
And in 2022, that dream finally became a reality. Argentina defeated the 2018 champions France to win the World Cup following a penalty shootout in one of the greatest finals in the history of the tournament.
The dream that had once seemed impossible had finally been achieved. Messi had won the World Cup; the biggest prize that had eluded him throughout his career was finally his.
He also led Argentina to the 2022 Finalissima and the 2024 Copa America title.
It looked like Messi would lead Argentina to back-to-back World Cup titles, but Spain ended that dream at MetLife Stadium. Argentina's reign as world champions came to an end and so did Messi's journey with the national team.
The numbers behind Messi's Argentina legacy
Since his 2016 retirement U-turn, Messi has played a further 94 times and scored another 70 goals for Argentina. He has also lifted four major trophies during that period. Messi leaves international football as Argentina’s leading goalscorer, with 125 goals in 207 games.
He is also the second-highest goalscorer in World Cup history, with 21 goals, behind France's Kylian Mbappe, who has 22.
In men's international football, Messi is also second on the all-time goalscorers' list with 125 goals, behind his great contemporary and rival, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 146.
Messi fans would have hoped for him to reverse his decision once again. But this time, it is not going to happen.
'Time is running short'
Messi posted a handwritten letter announcing his retirement on August 31 and said that he ‘had originally written the following on July 21, two days after the final.
Time is running short, chapters come to a close, and this is one that hurts me deeply. I love, have loved, and will always love being part of the national team. I've given everything I had; I have nothing left to give, and besides, there are some great young players coming up who deserve to be here.”
After more than two decades, the story is finally coming to an end.
Messi's international career began with a red card against Hungary in 2005.
It ends with him as a World Cup winner, a two-time Copa America champion, Argentina's all-time leading goalscorer and one of the greatest footballers the world has ever seen.
Messi will continue to play club football, he is contracted with Major League Soccer club Inter Miami until the end of the 2028 season.
But for Argentina, the era of Lionel Messi is over.
