One of the images that summed up the 2026 World Cup was Lionel Messi with his hands on his hips, looking towards the Argentine fans in the stands after the defeat in the final. Tears streamed down his face following the painful loss to Spain, in what would later be known as his last match wearing his country's shirt.
According to reporting by British newspaper The Guardian, these were not Messi's first tears at the competition. He cried with joy in Argentina's opening match, when he scored a spectacular hat-trick against Algeria. He became emotional again after his brace against Austria, which took Argentina to the knockout stage as group leaders, and once more when he scored the equalising goal against Egypt, giving his country a chance it needed.
It was later revealed that Messi played in the tournament while facing a personal crisis: the deteriorating health of his father, Jorge. The emotional burden was evident as Argentina dramatically made its way to the final, seeking to defend the world title won in Qatar in 2022. The tears continued after the tournament ended. Weeks later, Jorge passed away, and his death prompted Messi—who throughout his career was one of the world sport's most reserved stars—to show an uncommon personal side in saying goodbye to his father on social media.
In his message of grief, Messi wrote a phrase that surprised many football fans: that everything he had done in his life was play football, but that he now had serious doubts about whether he could continue doing it any longer.
This week, Messi announced his retirement from international football at 39 years old. The decision was in some ways expected, considering his age and the emotional exhaustion that accompanied his last tournament, but it still marked the end of an unprecedented international career. Messi closes his time with Argentina as the holder of the record for World Cup participations in men's football, having played 34 matches across six different editions, tying the number of World Cups in which Cristiano Ronaldo and Guillermo Ochoa participated.
In 207 international matches, Messi scored or assisted 185 goals, including a record 35 goal contributions in major tournaments. He was naturally the central figure in the era that returned Argentina to the top, beginning with Copa América 2021, then the 2022 World Cup, and culminating in the retention of the Copa América title in 2024. On the international stage, there is practically nothing more that Messi needed to achieve.
However, the announcement of his retirement on Monday surprised many for a simple reason: Messi's genius remains evident to everyone. Few, if any, have been able to deliver a series of performances in major tournaments that rival what the Argentine has shown recently, regardless of his age.
The same applies to his career in Major League Soccer, where Messi remains the best player in the competition. Just this past weekend alone, he scored four goals and provided an assist against Montreal, taking the lead in the race for the Golden Boot. Messi is tied by a guaranteed contract with Inter Miami until 2028, although his international retirement has raised questions about whether he will complete the agreement.
Messi exerts exceptional influence within Inter Miami, where many of the club's sporting decisions revolve around his presence, whether in the signing or firing of players and coaches. Moreover, guaranteed contracts do not necessarily ensure that megastars remain until the end. Jordi Alba provides a clear example: last year he decided to step away from a three-year contract after only a few months and chose to retire, making his final MLS match his last in professional football.
Messi, who has become an icon of the club, would likely face little resistance if he decided to end his career with Inter Miami at the end of this season. Thus emerges the central message: if you live in North America or can travel there, go see Lionel Messi now, while the opportunity remains available.
Three years after his arrival, Messi's presence has become something familiar to those who live football on a daily basis in the United States and Canada. The magic that surrounded his initial debut has gradually become something routine, simply because it repeats constantly. Had Messi scored four goals in a single match against Montreal in 2023, the fact would have made headlines around the world. Now, a Messi performance generates barely the same impact. It has become, oddly, more expected than extraordinary.
Even in Miami, the city that welcomed him, Messi's mere presence no longer unleashes the obsession that characterised his early days. The paradox is that Messi's level in the MLS, at least, has not diminished in the way that the fuss surrounding him has diminished. He remains a player worth paying to watch play, and Inter Miami remains a team worth following for his presence.
The MLS has had a reputation, sometimes deserved, of being a "retirement league". But that same reputation offers football fans in North America an opportunity they probably would not have had otherwise: to see up close and in person one of the world's best players, at a cost relatively lower than what would have been required during his glory years in Europe.
Great stars like Thierry Henry and David Beckham passed through the MLS and offered exceptional moments. But those moments arrived intermittently. Messi is different. He remains capable of producing those moments almost constantly, as if audiences had become accustomed to the exceptional simply because the person producing it repeats it before them.
Messi's star no longer shines with the intensity it had during his years at Barcelona, and probably not even with the intensity it had just a few months ago when he wore the Argentine shirt. But the light it still emits in Miami, though dimmer and less frequent, still deserves to be seen. His retirement from international football, a departure from one of football's biggest stages that appears definitive, offers a timely reminder: great things do not last forever. However ordinary Messi's presence has become on the pitch after all these years, the moment when he is no longer there is approaching.
