Lionel Messi shed tears on the field Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, after what could turn out to be his last World Cup appearance, as Argentina fell short of back-to-back world titles.
The following day, Messi took to Instagram to congratulate Spain and reflect on the tournament — though he stopped short of announcing whether he would compete in another World Cup.
“The pain is immense, and this wound will take time to heal,” Messi wrote in Spanish, alongside a photo of himself wearing a silver medal. “But I also hold onto all the good things… The matches we turned around by giving it our all — moments that will remain in our memories forever — and the support of an entire country which, combined with this group’s hard work and effort, brought us back among the world’s elite once again. It is hard to fully appreciate our achievement right now, but this group reached two consecutive World Cup finals.”
Argentina claimed its last major championship at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where the team defeated France on penalty kicks following a 3-3 draw — a victory that completed Messi’s collection of major soccer honors.
At the 2026 tournament held in North America, Argentina again proved themselves among the world’s best, rallying past England in the semifinals. However, Spain’s defense proved too strong in the final, shutting out Argentina without allowing a single shot on goal.
Messi celebrated his 39th birthday during this tournament. The next World Cup, scheduled for 2030 in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, would see him turn 43 — making another run an extraordinary long shot.
Messi also expressed deep gratitude to Argentina’s supporters in his post.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and message,” he wrote. “Once again, we managed to unite as a country and stand together, sharing the immense pride of being Argentine.”
“I also want to congratulate Spain on winning the championship,” he added.
On the statistical side, Messi surpassed Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup scoring record of 16 goals early in the competition and finished the tournament with 21 goals. However, France’s Kylian Mbappe ultimately overtook him, finishing with 22. Mbappe also edged Messi for the Golden Boot, posting 10 goals in the tournament compared to Messi’s eight.
According to ESPN, Messi and his Argentina and Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul will sit out the club’s next two regular-season matches and will also skip the MLS All-Star Game as they rest and recover following the World Cup.
