‘It Hurts’—Lionel Messi’s Retirement Plan Teased by Argentina Teammate

Leandro Paredes opened up about what Messi told his teammates during the World Cup.

Lionel Messi’s future has come under intense scrutiny. | Michael Regan/FIFA/Getty Images

Lionel Messi’s compatriot Leandro Paredes admitted that “it hurt” to lose the 2026 World Cup final after spending the entire tournament under the impression that Argentina’s captain had already decided to end his international career this summer.

Messi and the rest of his teammates were entirely anonymous during a limp defeat to Spain at MetLife Stadium last weekend. Paredes arguably made the greatest impact, although for both all the wrong reasons and after the final whistle had blown.

Just four days on from that brawl in New Jersey, the 32-year-old played the full 90 minutes of Boca Juniors’ Copa Sudamericana tie with CD O’Higgins of Chile on Thursday, setting up the game’s only goal with a delightful scoop over the top. Every Argentina player skipped postmatch media duties after the World Cup final, but Paredes made himself open to comment in the bowels of La Bombonera.

“It hurts because I think we said it throughout the World Cup: we didn’t want Leo’s last game to come. I think he had already decided that it would be his last game with the national team,” Paredes lamented to DSports.

“Hopefully not—hopefully he can keep playing,” the upright midfielder added to try and lift some of the gloom. “It’ll be his decision, and whatever he decides, if it makes him happy, it’ll make us happy too. So let’s hope so.”

For all Paredes’s supposed certainty, other reports have suggested that Messi’s international career might still have some more mileage in it.

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Fans Given Hope of Happier Messi Sendoff

Lionel Messi was left to contemplate his future after a second World Cup final defeat. | Hector Vivas/FIFA/Getty Images

Messi hasn’t made any public declarations about his future. The door to the 2030 World Cup is still open, however, faint those aspirations of reaching the international tournament may be.

TyC Sports’ exceedingly well-connected report Gastón Edul is certainly confident that Messi hasn’t made his final international appearance. The reporter takes his confidence from the claim that none of the player’s inner circle had been told that this would be his final World Cup during the tournament and that was a goal for Messi to use as motivation.

The expectation is that Messi will still be involved when Argentina return to action during the extended September international break. That is close enough in the calendar to serve as an achievable target for the 39-year-old to aim at before making any sweeping judgements. Dancing around a tame opponent in a friendly at a raucous Buenos Aires home crowd would be much more fitting way for Messi to bow out rather than in tears after failing to force Unai Simón into a single save.

“After a tournament like this with all the usual ups and downs, I think you reevaluate things,” Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni—whose own future is clouded in uncertainty—admitted.

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