Football’s biggest name, Lionel Messi, has hinted that he could retire from the sport in an emotional post to his father, who passed away on August 7.
Messi, who missed his Inter Miami game on the weekend, posted the heartfelt letter to his father, Jorge Messi, who was 68 when he lost his illness battle, on social media.
In the letter, Messi asked: “You were by my side from the beginning; there was so little left until the end. Why couldn’t you hold on just a little longer so we could finish it together?”
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The 39-year-old’s post also said: “I don’t know what I’m going to do without you.”
“I don’t know how to carry on. I used to just play football, and now I’m really not sure if I’ll carry on doing it for much longer.”
The Argentinian star also said his father, who served as his agent and handled his business affairs, pushed him to play in the recent US World Cup, where the veteran took his country to the tournament’s final game as his dad’s condition deteriorated.
Argentina lost the final 1-0 to Spain, with Messi and his team unable to replicate their 2022 FIFA World Cup triumph.
An emotional Messi was seen breaking down after Argentina’s tournament win against Algeria as his father’s condition deteriorated.
Sergo Messi played a fundamental role in his third son’s career, travelling with a young Messi to Barcelona in the early 2000s for the trial that would open the doors to La Masia, the club’s youth academy. The younger Messi made his professional debut in 2005 and went on to win eight Ballon d’Or awards. Apart from the 2022 World Cup, Messi also led Argentina to victory in the 2021 and 2024 Copa America Cups and the 2022 Conmebol-UEFA Cup of Champions.
“My dad was always by my side,” Messi said in a 2007 interview with Radio del Plata. “Sometimes I would lock myself in my room to cry when we arrived in Barcelona, or my dad would do the same without me seeing him, or thinking I didn’t see him. We pretended we were both OK, but we weren’t. My dad even asked me what I wanted to do when we were feeling down, if I wanted to stay or go back, and I wanted to stay, and he stayed with me.”
His father negotiated the contracts with Barça and later his transfers to Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami, while also managing the use of his famous son’s image rights and his numerous investments in real estate, hotels, and restaurants.
In 2013, father and son were accused by a Spanish prosecutor of trying to conceal earnings from the player’s image rights. Jorge Messi paid more than than 5 million euros ($8.1 million) on August 14 to cover alleged back taxes and interest.
Jorge Messi, father of Lionel Messi, greets his son Lionel with his wife Celia Cuccittini after the 2025 MLS Cup Playoff match between Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC at Chase Stadium in November 2025. Credit: Leonardo Fernandez/Getty Images
In Rosario, a sign at the VIP Rosario restaurant, one of the Messi family’s gastronomic ventures, indicated that it was closed for the day.
The President of Argentina’s soccer federation, Claudio Tapia, on Saturday issued a lengthy statement in which he recognized Jorge Messi “for having raised a person of values: humble, respectful, and deeply committed to others.”
The organisation ordered a moment of silence to be observed at all matches across all categories of Argentine soccer and mandated that players, referees and coaching staff wear black armbands.
