Messi says goodbye to the Argentine national team in tears and the memory of his father: "I love, loved and will always love being in the National Team"

Leo Messi confirmed this Monday what many had feared for months. The captain of Argentina will not wear the albiceleste jersey again. He told it himself, in his own way, with a letter published on his social networks in which he mixes gratitude, pain, and the feeling that the time has come to close a stage that began twenty years ago.

He wrote it, as he himself says, on July 21, just two days after losing the 2026 World Cup final against Spain in New Jersey. He didn't make it public then. He kept it. It was the death of his father, Jorge, just a few weeks ago, that gave him the definitive strength to publish it. "Today, after what happened with my dad, I am more convinced than before," he wrote.

Twenty years of a relationship that was not always easy

Messi's relationship with the national team did not start well. He debuted on August 17, 2005, in a friendly against Hungary and was sent off within minutes. It took him years to earn the unconditional affection of a country that, for much of his career, demanded more from him than from anyone else. There were tears of frustration, a half-hearted farewell in 2016, and many nights when it seemed that glory with Argentina would never come.

It arrived in 2021, with the Copa América won at the Maracanã. It arrived again in Qatar 2022, with the World Cup he was missing. And it arrived again in 2024, with the second consecutive America. He leaves with 207 matches and 125 goals, the highest numbers in albiceleste history, and with a trophy cabinet that also includes the Olympic gold from Beijing 2008 and the Finalissima of 2022.

"Now I will be one of you"

In his farewell, Messi barely dwells on the titles. He prefers to talk about gratitude. He thanks the coaches, his teammates, the people who accompanied him from the stands for two decades. He promises to follow the national team closely, even if it's no longer from within. "Now I will be one of you, cheering and supporting always from the outside," he writes, in a tone that moves away from the footballer and approaches, simply, the fan he also is.

He leaves without the second star he pursued until the last minute of this summer. He leaves, however, with the peace of mind of having kept his word. He himself summarizes it better than anyone in his letter, he always gave everything: "I emptied myself."