Lionel Messi’s goodbye to Argentina did not begin on Monday. It began on 21 July, two days after Argentina were beaten 1-0 by Spain in the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
That date is not in the body of the letter he posted on Instagram. It sits in a short note added at the very bottom, on the day of publication.
“I wrote these words on 21 July, two days after the final. Today, after what happened with my father, I am more convinced than before,” Messi wrote in the closing paragraph, according to Infobae.
Jorge Messi, Lionel’s father and long-time agent, died in a clinic in Rosario on 8 August at the age of 68 after a long illness. His death fell almost exactly in the middle of the six weeks between the letter being written and the letter being sent.
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The words in the letter
The letter above the note is short.
“It was a decision that hurt, and still hurts deep in the soul, but I understand that it’s time,” Messi wrote, in the version carried by NBC News.
He added that he had “given it my all,” with “nothing left to give,” and that “there are some truly great young players coming up who deserve their spot.”
“I leave with the peace of mind and pride of having given you, together with my teammates, moments we’d only dreamed of,” he wrote in the closing lines.
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“I love, I have loved and I always will love being with the national team,” he wrote elsewhere in the same letter.
Messi’s international career spans 20 years and six World Cups. He won it with Argentina in Qatar in 2022. Four years later, in a final played on North American soil, he lost it.
The 19 July defeat at MetLife
Argentina were beaten 1-0 by Spain on 19 July. Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute of extra time with a left-footed finish from eight yards.
Enzo Fernández was sent off in second-half stoppage time for a second bookable offence, leaving Argentina with ten men for extra time. Emiliano Martínez made 11 saves, a new record for a World Cup final. Argentina managed two shots in the entire match, neither on target, and Messi himself rarely touched the ball.
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Two days later he wrote his letter and did not send it.
Milei calls Messi an ‘impossible man’
Argentine President Javier Milei posted a short tribute on Instagram after the retirement announcement went live.
“Muchas gracias HOMBRE IMPOSIBLE…!!!” Milei wrote, according to a report in The Tribune, a phrase that translates as thank you very much, impossible man.
Messi continues to play for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.
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