Messi says goodbye to Argentina: “I wanted to play for the rest of my life”

Having scored once and provided two assists at the Monumental, Messi addressed the crowd after the match, thanking supporters and teammates while reflecting on the pride and pain of representing his country.

“Wearing this shirt for more than 20 years has been an immense source of pride for me,” Messi said on the pitch. “Even in the worst moments we went through, and that I went through, I never stopped fighting, never stopped being there.”

“Not being able to continue playing will hurt enormously. I swear I wanted to play for the rest of my life, because representing Argentina is the greatest thing that can happen to you.”

The venue added another emotional dimension to his farewell. 

Argentina had returned to the Monumental for their first match after winning the 2022 World Cup, making it a setting associated with one of Messi’s greatest celebrations.

This time, he stood before the supporters to mark an ending.

“Now I am here on the saddest day of my career, the day I have to say goodbye to the national team, goodbye to all of you.”

“But now I will be on that side, with the supporters, backing all the boys, everyone who comes here. Always united,” he said.

Despite his sadness, Messi insisted that he had no regrets about the timing of his decision.

He pointed to the demands of this year’s World Cup, where Argentina reached the final before losing to Spain, and described the emotional and physical strain of another sustained pursuit of the trophy.

“Although I would like to stay here for the rest of my life, I feel this is the right moment. The last World Cup was too much, everything I had to go through,” Messi said. “We carried my dream and the dream of the whole country, which was to become world champions again.”

Messi singled out the meeting with England as a particularly draining part of Argentina’s campaign.

“At the last World Cup, we came very close to the title, and the truth is that nothing unusual happened, despite what people have been saying. The match against England took an enormous physical and emotional toll on us.”

“We arrived with just enough left; we fought as we always do in this shirt, with all the teammates I had the opportunity to stand alongside and share everything with — not only them, but also those who were there when we won. We came very close to winning.”

His final appearance delivered one more goal, two more assists and another Argentina victory. His farewell speech, however, centred on the attachment that made leaving so difficult: the shirt, the teammates and the supporters he will now join in cheering on the national team.