How Messi's decade of dominance almost never happened

What the report says

Lionel Messi’s Argentina career, which the BBC Sport Football article says nearly ended in 2016, is being framed as one of the sport’s defining comeback stories. The piece traces how Messi, after Argentina lost the 2016 Copa America final to Chile on penalties in New Jersey, said he was finished with international football. At that point, he had already endured defeat in the 2014 World Cup final and three Copa America finals, leaving him under heavy scrutiny at home.

BBC Sport reports that the backlash quickly turned into a public push for him to return. Team-mates, national figures and supporters urged him to reconsider, and Messi reversed his decision within weeks, saying he loved the country and the shirt. The article presents that turnaround as the beginning of a run that transformed his standing in Argentina.

From there, Messi went on to add major success with the national team, including the 2021 and 2024 Copa America titles and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The BBC piece says he eventually retired from international football as Argentina’s all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, with 125 goals in 207 appearances. It also notes that he played at the 2026 World Cup, where Argentina lost to Spain in the final, underlining how close the sport came to missing his later era of success.

More broadly, the article shows how criticism of Messi once contrasted sharply with his eventual place in Argentine football history.