Lionel Messi has played his final game for Argentina.
The all-time Argentina legend announced on social media Monday that he has retired from international soccer, marking the end of a career that saw him don the white and powder-blue 207 times, with 125 goals and the 2022 World Cup to his name.
Messi’s final game for Argentina came in the 2026 World Cup final against Spain.
“After all this time since the final, and after thinking about it a lot, I want to tell everyone that I’m retiring from the national team,” he said in his post. “It was a decision that hurt and still hurts deep inside, but I understand that this is the right moment.”
The 39-year-old leads his country in several all-time tallies, earning the most caps, goals, assists (65), World Cup appearances (34), World Cup goals (21) and Copa America appearances (39), among others.
Along with his World Cup win in 2022 — in which he scored twice to secure the penalty-shootout win over France — he has two Copa America trophies to his name (2021, 2024) and won the 2022 Finalissima against Italy.
“I swear to you that I always gave it my all — not just in these last few years when we won everything, but before that too,” Messi said. “I always fought and left everything on the field for this jersey, to bring you joy and make you feel proud to be Argentine through football.”
Messi debuted for the Argentinian senior men’s side on Aug. 16, 2005, in an international friendly against Hungary, but was taken off only a minute into his appearance with a red card.
He scored his first goal for La Albiceleste in a friendly against Croatia in May 2006, and got his first World Cup goal later that year as a substitute against Serbia-Montenegro.
20 years and 124 goals later, Messi closed his Argentinian account with a goal against Egypt in the Round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup — a tournament that saw him break Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup scoring record, but later conceded that top spot to Kylian Mbappe.
Messi has not yet announced his intentions for club soccer following the 2026 season. He remains at Inter Miami and looks to be in good form, having scored four goals against CF Montreal over the weekend.
“Thank you for all the love during these 20 years. I’m going to miss hearing you from the inside,” Messi said. “Now I’ll be one of you, always supporting from the outside, in the good times and even more in the bad ones.”
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