Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from the Argentine national team, closing the book on a career that spanned nearly two decades and made the 39-year-old forward his country's all-time leader in both goals and appearances. Messi departs with 125 international goals and 207 caps for Argentina, records that stood atop a career defined by six World Cups and a rise from years of heartbreak to unmatched glory in the sport's biggest tournaments.
According to KUTV, citing reporting from the Associated Press, Messi thanked supporters for their love over the past 20 years and said he left with peace of mind and pride in his contributions to Argentina, adding that he always gave his all for the national team. He did not reveal how long he intends to keep playing professional football at the club level. The 125 goals and 207 caps make Messi the top-scoring male international player in South American history, having broken Pelé's previous mark of 77 goals in September 2021, according to Wikipedia.
A Career Bookended By Heartbreak And Triumph
Messi made his senior national-team debut in 2006 and went on to captain Argentina to finals it lost in 2014, 2015, and 2016 before the tide turned. During his senior international career, he won four major trophies: the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 Finalissima, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and the 2024 Copa América, per Wikipedia. Argentina won the World Cup in 2022 in Qatar, the crowning achievement of Messi's international career, and he later led the team back to the 2026 World Cup final, where Argentina lost to Spain.
This is not the first time Messi has walked away from the national team. This announcement marks the second time he has declared his international retirement, having previously stepped away in June 2016 following a penalty shootout loss to Chile in the Copa América Centenario final before reversing his decision two months later, per GiveMeSport. That 2016 exit followed four lost major finals before Messi returned to lead Argentina to four senior trophies. Across six World Cup appearances spanning 2006 to 2026, Messi also set the all-time record for the most FIFA World Cup matches played by any male player with 34 appearances, according to FOX Sports, surpassing German midfielder Lothar Matthäus's long-standing record of 25 appearances during the 2022 tournament.
A Letter Held Back For A Father's Final Days
The timing of the announcement carries a personal weight. Messi wrote his retirement letter on June 21, shortly after Argentina's World Cup final loss to Spain, but waited to publish it because his father, Jorge Messi, was facing health issues. Jorge Messi, who was Lionel's father, died in Rosario, Argentina on August 8, a loss Hoodline covered in a piece on his death at 68. Argentine Football Association President Claudio Tapia noted following the World Cup final that the federation left any decision on continuing or stepping away from the national team entirely to Messi, according to Ynet News.
Messi's individual accolades extend well beyond his national-team ledger. He is the only player in football history to win two FIFA World Cup Golden Ball awards as the tournament's best player, earning the honor in 2014 and 2022, per World Soccer Shop. Across his entire professional career for club and country, Messi has also collected eight Ballon d'Or awards, the most in football history, with his eighth arriving in 2023 following Argentina's World Cup victory, according to Transfermarkt.
Still Wearing The Captain's Armband In Miami
Retirement from Argentina does not mean retirement from the sport. Messi remains captain of Inter Miami and is committed at the club level after signing a contract extension in October 2025 that keeps him with the MLS franchise through 2028, a deal Hoodline detailed in coverage of his mega-deal. He played for Inter Miami over the weekend, part of a stretch that has seen him continue producing at an elite level even as his international career closed.
In December 2025, Messi became the first player in Major League Soccer history to win back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards after finishing the regular season with 29 goals and 19 assists, a feat Hoodline chronicled when he became MLS's first repeat MVP. He also led Inter Miami to its first MLS Cup title in 2025. Just weeks ago, following his father's death, Messi returned to the pitch for an emotional performance in Chester, and Hoodline reported on the moment when his first goal since the loss lit up Subaru Park.
What remains unresolved is how the Argentine Football Association will restructure its squad hierarchy and jersey ownership now that its decade-defining captain has departed the national team for good. For now, Messi leaves the sky-blue-and-white shirt behind as the most decorated player in Argentina's history, with a club career in Miami still very much in progress.
