Lionel Messi Retires From Argentina's National Team After 21 Years and 125 Goals

Lionel Messi is done playing for Argentina. The 39-year-old announced his retirement from international soccer Monday in a handwritten note posted to Instagram, closing out a national-team career that started in 2005 and ended with him as Argentina's all-time leading scorer.

"It was a decision that hurt — and still hurts deeply — but I understand that the time has come," Messi wrote, according to translations carried by NPR, CBS News, NBC News and PBS. "I always fought and left everything on the field for this jersey, to bring you joy and make you feel proud to be Argentine through football."

The numbers back that up. Messi played 207 matches for Argentina, scored 125 goals and added 68 assists, according to NBC News. Only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more in men's international soccer, with 146 goals for Portugal, and Ronaldo hasn't announced any plans to step away.

The Decision Traces Back to July

Messi told fans he actually wrote the retirement letter on July 21, two days after Argentina lost the 2026 World Cup final to Spain 1-0 in extra time on Ferran Torres' goal at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, according to NPR and PBS. He held off publishing it because his father, Jorge Messi, was in declining health.

Jorge Messi died August 8 in Rosario, Argentina, at age 68, according to CBS News. Messi wrote that after his father's death he had "serious doubts about whether I'll keep doing it for much longer" before landing on retirement from the national team specifically. "Today, after everything with my dad, I am even more convinced than before," he wrote.

One note on the timeline: CBS News reported Messi wrote the letter on "June 21," which doesn't line up with the World Cup final happening July 19, a date CBS itself cites elsewhere in the same report. NPR, PBS and Newsweek all reported the letter was written July 21, two days after the final, which is the version consistent with the rest of the record.

A Career That Nearly Ended a Decade Earlier

After Argentina lost the 2016 Copa América final to Chile on penalties, a shootout in which Messi missed his kick, he told reporters at age 29 that he was "done playing with the national team," according to Forbes. He reversed course two months later, saying he loved the team "too much" to quit.

That reversal set up the run that defined his legacy: the 2022 World Cup title in Qatar, Copa América titles in 2021 and 2024, and World Cup runner-up finishes in 2014 and again this year. In the 2026 tournament, hosted across the U.S., Mexico and Canada, Messi played all eight matches and scored eight goals, briefly becoming the all-time World Cup scoring leader before France's Kylian Mbappé passed him, according to PBS.

The Argentine Football Association thanked Messi in a statement carried by CBS News: "Thank you for everything, Leo. Thank you for representing Argentina. Thank you for making us dream. The legend is yours, forever."

He's Not Done Playing Soccer

Messi is staying on the field — just not for Argentina. He continues playing for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer under a contract that runs through 2028, according to Forbes. He scored four goals in a 7-1 win over CF Montreal over the weekend before Monday's announcement, PBS reported.

The money attached to that decision is substantial. Forbes named Messi a billionaire in June, estimating his net worth at $1.1 billion and crediting the value of his contracts and endorsements, including a lifetime deal with Adidas. Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas previously told Bloomberg he pays Messi "$70 million to $80 million a year," and Forbes ranked him third among the world's highest-paid athletes in 2026, at an estimated $140 million, behind Ronaldo and boxer Canelo Alvarez.

What Messi didn't say in his post is how much longer he plans to play club soccer at all. His Inter Miami deal runs two more years, but he gave no indication whether that will be his final stop or whether, at 39, another chapter is still ahead.