Messi retires from international football

What the report says

Lionel Messi has announced that he is retiring from international football, according to BBC Sport Football. In a statement posted on Instagram, the Argentina captain said the decision was painful but that he felt the moment had arrived to step away from the national team.

Messi, 39, leaves as Argentina’s record scorer and most-capped player, with 125 goals in 207 appearances. He led the country to World Cup victory in Qatar in 2022 and has been the central figure in Argentina’s modern era. The BBC said he wrote his retirement message on 21 July, shortly after Argentina’s loss to Spain in this summer’s World Cup final.

In the message, Messi said he had given everything he could to the national side and pointed to a new generation of players coming through. He also linked his thinking to the recent death of his father, Jorge, which had led him to reflect on his future in the game.

The announcement matters because it marks the end of an international career that has defined Argentina football for more than two decades. Messi continues to play club football for Inter Miami. More broadly, his retirement from international duty closes a major chapter in a career that has included eight Ballon d’Or wins and one of the sport’s longest-running individual rivalries and accomplishments.