Lionel Messi is now 38 and the Barcelona icon will soon come to the last days of his professional gaming career. And if these recent comments are something to enter into, it will rather rather than hanging his boots later.
After winning the World Cup in 2022, many expected Messi to end his international career, but he continued. And he will want to help Argentina to help defend their crown in North America next summer. Los Albiceleste is already qualified for the 2026 tournament and next week they will be confronted with Venezuela and Ecuador in their latest qualifications.
The match against Venezuela, which is planned for the early hours of next Friday morning, will be special for Messi, because he has confirmed (via MD) that it will be his last world cup qualification for Argentina.
“Yes, it will be special, it will be a very special match for me because it is the last in the qualifications. I do not know if there will be friendly competitions or more competitions afterwards. I will be accompanied by my family, my wife, my children, my parents. We will live that way.
It would be no surprise to see Messi end his international after next summer's World Cup. So far he has made 184 performances for the Argentinian national team and scores 112 goals – and he will hope to add that to that count in North America.
Argentina has already started preparing for Messi's retirement, which will be an incredibly sad day for everyone in the South American country. It was recently reported that his successor has already been identified – and it is none other than the new Real Madrid player Franco Mastantuono.