Lionel Messi, the GOAT, the legend, has finally retired from international football. After a 21-year-long career that made him the biggest superstar of the game and an icon, everyone had already written him off after the 2026 World Cup final. His father’s death is being cited as the reason behind his final decision to retire from international football.
But that’s not the end. Argentina’s fans and the entire world are eager to celebrate him — they’ve announced his last match, where the whole stadium will be filled with fans, and the entire world will salute and praise everything the legend has given to the game.
I haven’t watched too many of Lionel Messi’s matches, but the one that made me a fan was the 2022 FIFA World Cup — the first tournament where I truly saw the magic of Messi. And then Argentina went on to win that World Cup.
Everyone talks about Messi’s great stats, records, goals, and magical moments, but we Indians only really know two moments: his 2011 and 2025 visits to India. On Indian soil, we too treated Messi like a GOAT — the whole country welcomed him with “Atithi Devo Bhava” (the guest is God) at its root, and the entire tour was incredible. Everyone loved it. Outside of South America, India is one of the countries with the most passionate Messi fans.
Thank you, Leo, for everything.