Argentina legend Lionel Messi retires from international football

What the report says

Lionel Messi has announced that he is retiring from international football, according to Al Jazeera, ending a long Argentina career that included captaining the team to World Cup triumph in 2022. The announcement was made on Instagram on Monday, and came after Argentina reached a second straight World Cup final in July.

Messi, 39, said the decision was painful but described it as the right moment to step away. His statement stressed that he had always tried to give everything for the national team over many years, not only during Argentina’s recent period of success. Al Jazeera reported the news through Reuters.

The timing follows a difficult run for Argentina and for Messi personally. His team lost 1-0 to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final, after which he chose to end his international career. The report also notes that Messi had previously said, after the death of his father Jorge in August, that he had serious doubts about continuing to play for much longer.

Messi’s club future is separate from this announcement: his contract with Major League Soccer side Inter Miami runs through the end of the 2028 season. The decision matters because Messi has been one of the defining figures in modern international football and a central player in Argentina’s recent success.