Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from international soccer, closing the book on his Argentina career via a social media post rather than any grand farewell. The obvious question now hovering over the sport is whether Cristiano Ronaldo, still playing on at 41, will soon follow him out the door with Portugal.
Losing two of the greatest players the game has ever produced within months of each other would normally sound like a crisis for international soccer. Instead, the sport looks unusually well stocked with talent ready to fill the void.
Messi's Numbers Speak for Themselves
Messi, 39, was named FIFA's world player of the year a record eight times and helped his teams win 46 trophies, including four Champions League titles, a World Cup and an Olympic gold medal. He has played in more World Cup matches than anyone (34), is one of only two men to appear in three World Cup finals, holds the all-time assists record with 423 and counting, and trails only Ronaldo for combined club and international goals with 928 and rising.
He isn't done yet at club level. Less than a year after signing a contract extension that runs through 2028, Messi currently leads MLS in both goals (19) and assists (11) with Inter Miami and is chasing a second consecutive league title. Whether he sees out that deal remains uncertain. His decision to step back from Argentina came shortly after the death of his father, Jorge, who was also his first coach and closest confidant.
Ronaldo's Own Crossroads
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner and five-time Champions League winner across Real Madrid and Manchester United, has never matched Messi's international haul, with a European Championship and two Nations League titles to show for his Portugal career. His contract with Saudi club Al-Nassr, reportedly worth around $6 million a week, expires next year. Away from the pitch, he already has a museum dedicated to his career, the Museu CR7 in his hometown of Funchal.
The pairing of Messi's quiet, private nature and Ronaldo's taste for the spotlight shaped soccer's biggest rivalry for the better part of two decades. Once both are gone, there's no obvious act ready to replicate that dynamic.
The Next Wave
Kylian Mbappé, 27, has already broken Messi's record with 22 World Cup goals from as many games and has more goals, assists and trophies at his age than Ronaldo did at 27. Erling Haaland, 26, has more goals for club and country at the same age than either Messi or Ronaldo managed. The two have faced each other only four times in the Champions League and once internationally — a game Haaland missed — partly because Norway has reached just one World Cup this century.
Spain's Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí, both still teenagers, are also on this year's 30-name Ballon d'Or shortlist, alongside seven other players younger than 26. Yamal, 19 and playing for Barcelona, could in time become Mbappé's natural rival given Barcelona and Real Madrid's history, but he's still considered a work in progress.
A Shifting Picture on the Women's Side
A similar transition may be under way in the women's game. Two years ago five Americans were nominated for the women's Ballon d'Or; this year it's just one, Gotham midfielder Rose Lavelle. The current ballot includes six Spanish players, three each from France and the Netherlands, and two from Japan.
The United States won the Paris Olympics tournament, the last major women's international event, but Spain, the reigning World Cup champion, sits No. 1 in the world rankings and has six players on the Ballon d'Or shortlist, including Alexia Putellas, who alongside Barcelona teammate Aitana Bonmatí has helped Spain claim the last five Ballon d'Or awards. Only four NWSL players made this year's list.
The NWSL remains fiercely competitive — no team in the league has fewer than four losses this season, compared with Barcelona's four defeats across the last seven seasons combined — and Ballon d'Or voting, carried out by France Football and L'Equipe writers alongside international ambassadors, carries a recognised European lean. Even so, the days of the U.S. simply expecting to dominate women's soccer appear to be over, with next summer's World Cup in Brazil likely to show just how far the rest of the world has closed the gap.
