{"id":9446,"date":"2026-08-31T16:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=9446"},"modified":"2026-08-31T16:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:47:09","slug":"lionel-messi-says-hes-retiring-from-playing-internationally-for-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=9446","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi says he’s retiring from playing internationally for Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina \u2014 Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international soccer on Monday after two decades representing Argentina.<\/p>

Read more NPR spent 2 years tracking deaths from heat. We found a staggering hidden toll<\/a><\/p>

“It was a decision that hurt \u2014 and still hurts deeply \u2014 but I understand that the time has come,” the 39-year-old Messi said on his Instagram account.<\/p>

\n
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\"A<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
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The Americas <\/h3>\n

How Lionel Messi’s legend is driving tourism in his hometown<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

“I swear to you that I always gave it my all \u2014 not just in these last few years when we won everything, but before that too; I always fought and left everything on the field for this jersey, to bring you joy and make you feel proud to be Argentine through football.”<\/p>

Messi played in a record-tying six World Cups, won it in 2022 in Qatar and led Argentina to this year’s final, losing to Spain in extra time in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

In the World Cup hosted in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, Messi played all eight matches and scored eight goals. He finished just one goal behind France’s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, the tournament’s top scorer. He concluded his international career as Argentina’s all-time leading scorer with 125 goals, 21 of which were scored in World Cups.<\/p>

He explained he wrote his retirement letter on July 21 \u2014 two days after the World Cup final \u2014 but waited to publish it because his father was facing health issues that eventually claimed his life.<\/p>

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\"Will<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
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Main Character of the Week <\/h3>\n

Will Lionel Messi finally make the U.S. a soccer nation? <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Jorge Messi died on Aug. 8 in his native Rosario.<\/p>

Messi will continue to play for Inter Miami. Over the weekend he scored four times in a 7-1 win over CF Montreal.<\/p>

He made his Argentina debut in 2006 but his journey was fraught with frustration until he finally lifted the World Cup in 2022.<\/p>

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“Thank you for all the love these past 20 years,” he said. “I’m going to miss hearing you all from the inside so much. Now I’m going to be one of you, cheering and supporting you from the outside (through thick and thin, even more so).”<\/p>

In the letter, the Inter Miami captain did not say how long he intends to continue playing.<\/p>\n\n

“I leave with the peace of mind and pride of having given you \u2014 along with my teammates \u2014 moments we once only dreamed of. Experiencing this with you was incredible. I love you all,” he added.<\/p>

The second retirement<\/h3>

Messi’s stellar recent success with Argentina nearly didn’t happen.<\/p>

A decade ago, before the World Cup triumph and Copa Am\u00e9rica titles in 2021 and 2024, he retired from the national team. The decision followed Argentina’s defeat in the 2016 Copa Am\u00e9rica final to Chile on penalty kicks, one of which he missed.<\/p>

But Messi shook off the notion of not being able to win the big match. He continued starring for Barcelona, then Paris Saint-Germain, then Inter Miami.<\/p>

He’s the two-time defending Most Valuable Player in Major League Soccer, the star of the league reigning champion, someone who still creates goals in the biggest moments.<\/p>

“He is pure history,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said during the recent World Cup. “History. A legend.”<\/p>

Read more Nepal\u2019s hesitance to accept foreign help for flood relief under scrutiny<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He said he wrote his retirement letter after the World Cup final in July, but waited to publish it because his father was facing health issues that eventually claimed his life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[859,765,302],"class_list":["post-9446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-argentina","tag-lionel-messi","tag-soccer"],"yoast_head":"\nLionel Messi says he's retiring from playing internationally for Argentina - Best USA Movers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=9446\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lionel Messi says he's retiring from playing internationally for Argentina - 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