Lionel Messi Retires From Argentina After Conquering It All

Reviewed by Omotolani Ajileye

Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international football on Monday, seven weeks after Argentina lost the World Cup final to Spain in the United States.

The 39-year-old confirmed the decision in a statement posted to Instagram, revealing he had actually written the message on 21 July, just two days after that final. He delayed publishing it while his father, Jorge, battled the illness that eventually claimed his life on 8 August in Rosario.

Messi leaves the national team as its all-time record scorer and most-capped player, closing a 20-year international career that began with a red card and ended with a trophy cabinet few in the sport’s history can match.

Why did he choose this particular moment to walk away? Messi addressed that directly in his statement. “It was a decision that hurt, and still hurts deeply, but I understand that the time has come,” he wrote, according to a translation carried by NPR.

He explained that his father’s death had strengthened his resolve rather than shaken it. “Today, after what happened with my dad, I’m even more convinced than before,” he added on Instagram.

Messi’s Argentina career very nearly ended a decade earlier under far less triumphant circumstances. After missing a penalty in the 2016 Copa América final shootout defeat to Chile, his fourth major final loss in a row, he initially quit the national team altogether, only to reverse the decision within weeks.

That version of Messi was still chasing his first senior international trophy. The player who retired on Monday leaves having won practically everything the sport offers. A transformation BBC South American football writer Tim Vickery described simply as “the pinnacle” reached through “a race between…