Exit at peak? Not with Lionel Messi. After the triumph in Qatar, the superstar decided to continue his career in the Argentine national team.
After the semi-finals, Lionel Messi was pretty sure: One more game and that’s it. “I end my World Cup journey by playing my last game in a final” Argentina’s superstar had announced. But after he was finally allowed to lift the World Cup trophy for the first time on Sunday (December 18th, 2022), he apparently wanted more again.
“No, I won’t stop”
After the World Cup final, Messi backed down, resigning from his own retirement. “No, I won’t stop. I want to continue playing as a world champion in the Argentina shirt,” the 35-year-old, who won the Player of the Tournament, told TyC Sports. “I want to play a few more games as world champion.”
Scaloni wants Messi at the 2026 World Cup
Messi has appeared 172 times for Albiceleste, scoring 98 goals and providing 55 assists. In 2021 he won the Copa America with Argentina, and now also the World Cup, after failing in the final against Germany in 2014 (0-1 after extra time). Messi will now continue to improve his record, and in all likelihood will soon break the 100-goal mark. Whether his resignation from retirement also applies to the 2026 World Cup (he will then be 39 years old)?
At least his national coach Lionel Scaloni hopes that’s the case. “We have to keep a place open for him at the next World Cup in 2026. If he wants to, he’ll be there. He will always have the right to say whether he wants to play for Argentina or not“said the 44-year-old. “It’s an honor to coach him. What he gives to his teammates is second to none, I’ve never experienced anything like it.”