It was among the defining moments of the 2026 World Cup: Lionel Messi standing arms akimbo, looking up towards Argentina’s fervent supporters after losing the final. Tears streamed down his face after his team’s embarrassing loss to Spain in what we now know was Messi’s final match wearing that famous Argentina kit.
It was not the first time he’d cried at the tournament. There had been tears of joy in Argentina’s opening match, when Messi rolled back the clock to his glory days with a trio of spectacular goals against Algeria. There had been more when his brace against Austria pushed Argentina through to the knockout round as group winners, and even more when his equalizer against Egypt threw la Albiceleste a much-needed lifeline. Later, the world found out that Messi had been struggling all the while with the health struggles of his father, Jorge, a fact that clearly weighed heavily on him as Argentina made a dramatic return to the final in a bid to defend their 2022 title.
There were tears in the weeks that followed the tournament as well, when Jorge passed away. It led Messi – among the most private, reserved megastars in the world, football or otherwise – to provide a rare moment of public vulnerability as he mourned the loss of his father on social media. But buried in that remembrance was something that caught many football fans off guard.
“All I did was play football,” Messi wrote, “and now I have serious doubts that I’ll do it for much longer.”
Messi announced his retirement from international football this week at age 39, a move that was somewhat expected given his age and the sheer emotional exhaustion that had clearly accompanied his final tournament. He finishes his Argentina career with the most men’s World Cup appearances of all time – 34 spread across six tournaments, the joint-most tournaments played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Guillermo Ocha. He scored or assisted 185 times in his 207 caps, a record 35 of which came at a major tournament. And of course, he was the leading figure in that legendary run that saw Argentina win the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 World Cup, and then defend their Copa América title in 2024. Internationally, there was little left for him to accomplish.
Yet Monday’s announcement still came as a bit of a surprise to many, largely because Messi’s brilliance is still so readily apparent. Few, if any players, have assembled the run of major tournament performances that Messi just put together, regardless of age.
He remains the best player in Major League Soccer as well. Just this past weekend, the Argentinian scored four goals and provided an assist against Montreal, pushing him into the lead for the league’s golden boot.
He remains under a guaranteed contract at Miami through 2028, but Messi’s international exit has now cast understandable doubt on whether he will play that deal out. Messi essentially runs the show at Miami, a club that signs and discards players and coaches at his whim. Guaranteed contracts mean little to the club’s megastars. Just last year, Jordi Alba walked away from a three-year contract after just a few months, choosing retirement and making the MLS Cup final his last professional game. Messi is an idol at the club and would seemingly face little resistance if he chose to bring his career to a close at the end of this season.
All of which is to say: If you’re in North America, or if you can make it there, go see Lionel Messi now, while you still have a chance.
Three years after his arrival, those of us who live and breathe soccer in Canada and the US have grown almost accustomed to Messi’s presence and all of the magic that accompanies it because it has become so routine. Miami’s traveling bazaar of Messi and aging European megastars was a genuine sensation at first but has since retreated into the shadows at times along with the rest of MLS. His four-goal effort against Montreal would have made international headlines in 2023 but now does little to move the needle. If anything, it’s to be expected. Even in Miami, where Messi was embraced readily, Messi’s presence no longer guarantees the hysteria it once did.
Yet Messi’s level, in MLS at least, has not declined. He remains a must-see player and Miami remain a must-watch team. MLS has a sometimes deserved reputation for being a “retirement league,” yet that same reputation provides fans in North America with an opportunity few of them would have otherwise: to witness global greatness in person, and for a relative bargain.
For other players – Thierry Henry, David Beckham and the like – those moments of greatness were sometimes sporadic in MLS. Messi, though, seems to provide those moments at each and every turn.
His star no longer shines as brightly as it did years ago at Barcelona or even months ago, in an Argentina shirt. Yet even the slightly dimmed, more fleeting light Messi produces in Miami is worth watching. His first, presumably permanent, exit from the global stage is a good reminder that soon enough it will be gone for ever.
