Lionel Messi walked off the field at MetLife Stadium on July 19 with a World Cup final defeat, no lap of honor and no announcement that the match was his last. Six weeks later, on Monday, he confirmed it was.

The 39-year-old published a handwritten letter on Instagram, and the Argentine Football Association (AFA) is now trying to organize a send-off he never got in East Rutherford.

The federation, led by president Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia, wants Messi’s tribute at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires during the next FIFA international window, which runs from September 21 to October 6, according to the Argentine outlet MDZ. No opponent has been named, and the report describes the plan as nothing more than speculation for now, with anything final conditional on Messi’s willingness.

That willingness looks unlikely. His own words in the letter point in the opposite direction.

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“I emptied my tank; I have nothing left to give,” Messi wrote, in a translation carried by World Soccer Talk.

A letter written in July, published in August

Messi explained the delay in a postscript to the letter. He wrote it on July 21, two days after the World Cup final, but held it back because of his father’s illness. Jorge Messi died last month, The Spokesman-Review reported, citing the loss as the reason his son felt more certain about the decision.

“Today, after what happened with my dad, I am more convinced than before,” Messi added at the end of the letter.

Tapia’s message stopped short of a promise

The AFA president posted his own tribute on Monday. It named no venue, no date and no opponent.

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“You are already a legend of this land, of our national team and of world football,” Tapia wrote, in a message reported by news agency EFE.

The Monumental plan is being discussed inside the AFA, not announced from it.

The final scene in New Jersey

Argentina’s title defense ended when Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute of extra time. The team that had specialized in late rallies through the tournament had no answer this time. Messi took a corner in the closing minutes of regulation, CBS News reported, and Giuliano Simeone sent the header over the crossbar.

Messi’s last competitive appearance for Argentina on home soil came almost a year earlier, in a 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Venezuela at the Monumental in September 2025, where he scored twice in what was already framed as a home farewell.

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“To be able to end this way here, I always dreamed of it,” Messi said after that match. “To be able to celebrate with my people.”

He remains under contract with Inter Miami through December 2028.

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