Lionel Messi Retires: Six Defining Argentina Career Moments

Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from international football, ending an Argentina career that stretched across more than two decades and 207 appearances. Six weeks after Argentina’s World Cup final defeat, the 39-year-old leaves with 125 international goals, major-tournament triumphs and a record of 34 World Cup appearances.

His final international chapter followed a career of sharp contrasts: an early red card, repeated final defeats, a brief retirement, a first major title in 2021 and the World Cup triumph that transformed his relationship with the national team. Messi also captained Argentina to the 2024 Copa America title before his final World Cup campaign.

From a difficult debut to a first World Cup final

Messi’s Argentina story began in 2005, when he was an 18-year-old making his first appearance in a friendly against Hungary in Budapest. The debut lasted only 90 seconds after he came on as a substitute, with the referee sending him off for what was judged to be an elbow.

There was a far happier landmark the following year at the World Cup in Germany. Messi made his first tournament appearance in Argentina’s 6-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro and scored his team’s final goal in Gelsenkirchen. It was the first World Cup game and goal in a career that would become closely tied to the competition.

Argentina suffered disappointment in the years that followed, including World Cup quarter-final losses to Germany in 2006 and 2010, a Copa America final defeat to Brazil in 2007 and an unsuccessful Copa America on home soil in 2011. Yet Messi arrived at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as captain and already one of football’s established greats because of his club achievements.

He scored in each of Argentina’s group matches in Brazil and led the side to its first World Cup final since the era of Diego Maradona. Argentina ultimately lost to Germany at the Maracana, beginning a run of painful final defeats that would become a defining part of Messi’s international journey.

The 2016 breaking point

The defeat in the 2014 World Cup final was followed by another loss to Chile on penalties in the 2015 Copa America final. Messi entered the 2016 Copa America Centenario in the United States seeking the major international title that had eluded him, and Argentina again reached the final.

Chile were the opponents once more at MetLife Stadium, and the result was again decided on penalties. Messi missed his attempt as Argentina lost. Having already passed 100 caps, he declared that his time with the national team was over, saying he had done all he could after reaching four finals without becoming a champion.

That first retirement did not last. Six weeks later, Messi reversed his decision and returned to Argentina duty, setting the stage for the most successful period of his international career.

Titles, World Cup glory and a final farewell

Lionel Scaloni’s appointment as coach in 2018 marked a turning point. At the 2021 Copa America in Brazil, Argentina defeated the hosts 1-0 in the final through an Angel Di Maria goal. The victory delivered Argentina’s first major title in 28 years and gave Messi the international success that had long escaped him.

The crowning moment came at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Messi scored seven goals and provided three assists in seven matches as Argentina reached the final against France. He scored twice in the match and converted his penalty in the shoot-out as Argentina won the World Cup for the third time.

Messi said after that victory that he wanted to finish his career with the trophy, but he continued as a world champion. He went on to captain Argentina to another Copa America title in 2024 and then appeared at a record-equalling sixth World Cup in the United States.

In his final tournament, Messi scored eight goals in Argentina’s first five games and helped take the team to another final. He became only the second player to appear in three different World Cup finals, but Argentina lost to Spain after extra time. It was an anti-climactic conclusion, yet it closed a career that included Copa America success, World Cup glory and a place in Argentina’s international football history.