Lionel Messi has described his retirement from international football as the “saddest day” of his career after making his final appearance for Argentina.
Messi ended his 21-year international career with a 3-0 victory over Benin at the Monumental Stadium on Tuesday. The Inter Miami forward scored one of Argentina’s goals and provided two assists in the match.
After the final whistle, Messi addressed the fans and his teammates, expressing gratitude as he reflected on his long career with the national team.
“It was a huge source of pride for me to defend this jersey for more than 20 years,” Messi told the crowd. “Even in the worst moments we went through, I never stopped fighting, never stopped being here.
“Not coming anymore is going to be deeply painful. I swear I’d like to play for the rest of my life, because playing for the Argentina national team is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you.”
Messi said that returning to the Monumental — where Argentina played their first game after winning the 2022 World Cup — was bittersweet.
“Now I’m here on the saddest day of my career, which is the day I have to say goodbye to the national team, goodbye to all of you. But now I’ll be on that side [with the fans], supporting all the boys, everyone who comes in. Always united,” he said.
Messi, however, said that despite the sadness, he had no regrets about the timing of his international exit, citing the exertions of Argentina’s campaign at this year’s World Cup, where the South Americans battled through to the final before losing to Spain.
He added that the emotional rollercoaster of that tournament — which included a 2-1 defeat of bitter rivals England in the semi-finals — had taken its toll.
“Even though I want to be here all my life, I feel that this is the moment. The last World Cup was too much, everything I had to live through,” said Messi.
“We had the dream of fulfilling the whole country’s wish of becoming world champions again. In the last World Cup, we were very close, and the reality is that nothing strange happened, as people say. The match against England took a huge toll on us physically, and emotionally it was very heavy.
“We arrived with just enough. We fought like we always did for this jersey, with all the teammates I shared the pitch with — not only them, but also those who were around when we managed to win before. We were very close.”
