{"id":28590,"date":"2026-08-31T21:23:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T15:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vglobenews.com\/?p=28590"},"modified":"2026-08-31T21:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T15:53:19","slug":"lionel-messi-announces-retirement-from-international-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vglobenews.com\/?p=28590","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi Announces Retirement from International Football"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Buenos Aires:<\/strong> Argentina football legend Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from international football, bringing the curtain down on an extraordinary 20-year career with the national team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 39-year-old confirmed his decision in an emotional statement posted on his official Instagram account, saying he believes the time has come to step away from the Argentina jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Messi made his senior Argentina debut in 2005 and went on to become the country&#8217;s most-capped player, making a record 207 appearances. His international career reached its pinnacle in 2022, when he captained Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also played a key role in Argentina&#8217;s two Copa Am\u00e9rica triumphs, establishing himself as one of the most successful players in the history of international football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Messi said his decision to retire had been on his mind since Argentina&#8217;s World Cup final defeat to Spain in July. He revealed that he had initially written his retirement statement shortly after the final, but the death of his father, Jorge, later strengthened his belief that it was time to end his international career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Argentine icon said the decision was painful because of his deep emotional connection with the national team and supporters. He stressed that he had always given everything for the Argentina shirt and was proud of the memories created with his teammates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Messi also pointed to the emergence of a new generation of Argentine players as another reason for stepping aside, saying they deserve an opportunity to represent the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He thanked Argentina&#8217;s supporters, his family, coaches, teammates and officials for their support throughout his two-decade international journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although Messi will no longer represent Argentina, he will continue his club career with Inter Miami, where he remains under contract until 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His retirement marks the end of one of the greatest international careers in football history \u2014 a journey that began in 2005, endured painful defeats and ultimately delivered the World Cup trophy that had long eluded him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Buenos Aires: Argentina football legend Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from international football, bringing the curtain down on an extraordinary 20-year career with the national team. The 39-year-old confirmed his decision in an emotional statement posted on his official Instagram account, saying he believes the time has come to step away from the Argentina [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lionel Messi Announces 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