"It hurts to see Messi in tears, and I hope he returns to his country, because he needs it." Cristiano Ronaldo said that in 2016, when his greatest rival quit international football after missing a penalty in the Copa America final against Chile. It reads very differently now.
Messi has retired from Argentina for the second time. This one sticks. He finishes with 203 caps, 124 goals, two Copa Americas, and a World Cup lifted in Qatar in 2022 — the one that took 36 years to come back to Buenos Aires. The first retirement was a man at his lowest. This one is a man who ran out of anything left to give.
From the lowest point to the highest
The 2016 version of this story was genuinely bleak. Messi was 29, had lost the 2014 World Cup final to Germany, back-to-back Copa America finals, and then missed the decisive penalty against Chile. His statement at the time was raw and defeated. Ronaldo, to his credit, didn't pile on — he urged the public to understand what his rival was going through and expressed hope he'd reverse course.
He did. And what followed was one of the more complete redemption arcs the sport has produced. The 2021 Copa America ended a 28-year drought for Argentina. The 2024 edition added another. Then Qatar — a final against France, two goals from Messi, a converted shootout penalty, and a 4-2 win after the match finished 3-3. The World Cup that had defined his legacy as "the one thing missing" was suddenly in his hands.
His second retirement came more than a month after Argentina lost the 2026 World Cup final 1-0 to Spain, and just days after the death of his father, Jorge Messi, on August 8 in Rosario. The timing makes his written statement feel heavier than it already would.
"I swear I always gave everything," he wrote. "Not only in these last few years when we won everything, but before that too."
The numbers he leaves behind
Across six World Cups — 2006 through 2026 — Messi scored 21 goals in 34 matches, finishing second on the all-time tournament scoring list behind Kylian Mbappé's 22. He is Argentina's record cap holder and top scorer, and the highest goalscorer in South American football history.
He'll keep playing for Inter Miami in MLS. The club career continues. The international chapter is closed.
Ronaldo's 2016 wish came true, and then some. Messi returned, won everything his critics said he never would, and left on his own terms. The quote that was once a plea from a rival is now just a footnote — because everything it hoped for actually happened.
