Lionel Messi Contemplates Sudden Retirement in Heartfelt Tribute to Late Father

Lionel Messi revealed that he’s “really not sure” if he will continue playing soccer “for much longer” while reflecting on the recent death of his father Jorge, who was by his side through every step of his career.

Jorge Messi’s passing at the age of 68 was announced on Aug. 8. When faced with false rumors of his death during the World Cup, a statement from the family explained that the Argentina captain’s long-term agent and advisor was under medical supervision. Messi has now outlined the extent of his father’s ailment, which prevented him from attending the competition held across North America.

“Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone,” Messi wrote on Instagram in his first public comments since the tragedy was announced.

“I can’t wrap my head around it—or rather, I don’t want to. It’s so hard for me to imagine that I’ll never see you again, that we’ll never talk again. I know you were suffering and that this is for the best, but you left too soon. We still had so much left to enjoy together.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you; I don’t know how to go on,” Messi added. “All I ever did was play soccer, and now I’m really not sure if I’ll keep doing it for much longer. You were by my side from the very beginning—we were so close to the end. Why didn’t you hang in there just a little longer so we could finish this together?”

Messi has a contract with Inter Miami until the end of 2028. There had been spurious speculation of the 39-year-old pushing through to the 2030 World Cup, which will be partially held in his homeland of Argentina. But it now appears uncertain whether he will even see out the rest of the season.

Father’s Illness Paints Messi’s World Cup in Haunting New Light

Lionel Messi was rendered powerless in his third World Cup final appearance. | Paul ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images

For a figure so cool and calculating during the heat of a soccer match, Messi endured an emotionally wrought World Cup. After scoring the opening goal in Argentina’s 3–0 victory against Algeria to kickstart his stellar individual tournament, the former Barcelona icon broke down in tears. “It was something completely unrelated to soccer,” Messi would explain after the match before his father’s illness was publicly unveiled.

The veteran forward channelled his torrent of inner turmoil into one of the greatest performances any World Cup player has ever put together. Despite creeping towards his fourth decade, Messi scored eight goals, set up three more and almost singlehandedly dragged Argentina to the final.

As the No. 10 has now revealed, the tournament was a declaration of dedication to his father; each goal scored, each game won, preserving the chance of celebrating one last triumph with the person who had always supported him.

“You kept asking me to play in the last World Cup, and just days before it started, that’s when you got the worst,” Messi wrote. “It was the first time you weren’t going to be at a tournament, but Mom kept telling me you’d get better and that you’d be well enough to travel. I’d tell you that we were going to make it to the final so you could come along.

The music ends. Immortality doesn’t. pic.twitter.com/dgUQLOkymB
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) July 20, 2026

“Every time a game ended, I’d wait for your message and miss you. That’s when I realized the situation was really bad. Even so, I couldn’t stop thinking about going as far as possible, to give you time so you could watch a game. We made it to the final, and you couldn’t be there.

“I wanted to win it to bring it to you—to show you a new one. I couldn’t do it; my legs just wouldn’t hold up anymore. This time I tried to push past my physical limits, but I couldn’t. I never felt right.

“When I got there, you thought we’d lost the final on penalty kicks. We couldn’t talk about any of what had happened. You couldn’t enjoy a single moment. We didn’t become champions, but you didn’t know how much we enjoyed every game. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and play.

“I’m telling you this because it was the only thing we couldn’t talk about—you already knew everything else.”

‘Dad, Friend, Mentor’

Messi family, 2003 — The Messi family initially relocated to Barcelona en masse, before it was just Lionel (standing) and Jorge (center, seated). | Marcelo Boeri/El Grafico/Getty Images

Jorge played a fundamental role in the career of arguably the greatest player the sport has ever had the privilege of witnessing. Messi’s local club Grandoli were the first regular beneficiaries of his genius but it only lasted until he was 6. After Jorge was denied entry to a game when he forgot the two-peso fee one day, his son never played for the club again.

Newell’s Old Boys took the youngster in but were reluctant to fund the growth hormone treatment his father’s modest salary as a factory worker struggled to cover. It was Jorge who expanded the search for a new club beyond Argentina, sending out tapes of his prodigy juggling any vaguely spherical object; he managed 113 with an orange, 140 with a tennis ball and kept a table tennis ball up 29 times.

Barcelona answered the call and Messi Sr. sat opposite Carles Rexach when he penned a hurried contract on a paper napkin at a local tennis club to ensure little Lionel wasn’t going anywhere else.

“I know that your happiness came from seeing your family—your wife, your kids—do well, and above all, without the others finding out, watching me play...” Messi wrote.

“It was always like that, ever since I was a little kid. You’d take me to every practice as soon as you got home from work. Mom took me to a lot of them because you were working.

Lionel Messi (left) and his father. — Lionel Messi (left) was with his father when he won the 2022 World Cup. | Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

“Of course, you never missed a single game. How you suffered watching me—and how you enjoyed it—even though you never showered me with praise.

“You were a dad, a friend and a mentor,” Messi, who never hired a professional agent, instead relying upon the advice of his father, added. “You were always exactly the person you needed to be in every moment, and you were never wrong about anything. Despite the occasional argument or disagreement, you were always right. In the end, things always turned out just as you said they would.

“I’m going to miss you so much, but you’ll always be with me—especially in raising my children, because I teach and raise them just as you both did with me.

“Rest in peace, and watch over us from above just as you did here. Thank you for everything.

“I love you, Dad.”

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