‘It hurts in the soul’: How Lionel Messi announced his Argentina retirement

BUENOS AIRES: Lionel Messi announced his retirement from the Argentina national team through an emotional letter published on social media, saying the decision “hurt, and still hurts in the soul” but that he understood the time had come to close one of the most important chapters of his career.

Rather than making a brief announcement, Messi used the lengthy message to explain the thought process behind his decision, reflect on his two decades with Argentina and thank the people who accompanied him throughout the journey.

“After all this time since the final, and after thinking about it a lot, I want to tell everyone that I am retiring from the national team,” Messi wrote.

The 39-year-old said the decision was painful but insisted that his commitment to Argentina had never been limited to the years in which he finally began collecting major international trophies. “It was a decision that hurt, and still hurts in the soul, but I understand that the time has come,” he wrote. “I swear I always gave everything I had — not just during these last few years when we won it all, but before that too.” Messi said he had always fought for the Argentina shirt with the aim of bringing joy to supporters and making them proud of their country through football.

His most revealing words came when he explained why he believes now is the right time to step away. “There isn’t much time left, and stages are slowly coming to an end. This is one that hurts me a lot,” Messi wrote. “I love, I have loved and I will always love being part of the national team. I gave everything I had. I have nothing more left to give, and besides, there are some great young players coming through who deserve their chance.”
For Messi, the decision is therefore not simply about leaving after a long career. It is also about recognising that a new generation is ready to take his place.

The Argentine captain then turned to the supporters who had followed him through the highs and lows of his international career.
“Thank you for all the love and support you have given me over these 20 years,” he wrote, adding that he would miss hearing the Argentina fans from inside the stadium. He said he would now become “one of you”, supporting Argentina from outside the pitch “in the good times and in the bad, even more so.”

Messi also reserved an emotional tribute for his family, thanking them for accompanying him through what he described as a “beautiful but difficult” journey. He thanked his coaches, teammates and officials as well, saying he was leaving with memories and moments that would stay with him forever.
“I leave with the peace of mind and pride of knowing that, together with my teammates, we gave you moments you could only dream of,” Messi wrote. “It was crazy to have lived all of this with you. I love you!”

The timing of the announcement added another deeply personal dimension to the message. Messi revealed that the words had not been written on the day he announced his retirement. He said he had written them on July 21, two days after Argentina's World Cup final, but held back from publishing them.

“Today, after what happened with my dad, I am more convinced than ever,” Messi wrote. The reference was to the death of his father, Jorge Messi, earlier this month. Reports on the retirement announcement said the loss strengthened Messi's conviction about ending his international career.

Messi ended his farewell not with a conventional goodbye, but with a declaration of pride in the country he represented for more than two decades.
“Thank you, God, for making me Argentine,” he wrote. “¡Vamos Argentina!”
With those words, Messi closed his international chapter — not as a player walking away from Argentina, but as someone who said he would now stand alongside its supporters, cheering from the outside.