Lionel Messi has admitted he is unsure how much longer he will continue playing football following the d3ath of his father, Jorge Messi.
Jorge, 68, d!ed last week after a long illness. He had been Lionel Messi’s agent since the Argentina captain was 14 and played a major role in his journey from a young prospect in Rosario to one of football’s greatest players.
In an emotional tribute posted on social media, Messi revealed that his father’s death has left him questioning his future in the sport.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you,” Lionel Messi wrote.
“I don’t know how to carry on. I used to just play football, and now I’m really not sure if I’ll carry on doing it for much longer.
“You were by my side from the very beginning. We were so close to the end. Why didn’t you hang in there just a little longer so we could finish this together?”
Messi returned to Argentina with his family after Jorge died in a hospital in Rosario. A private funeral was held on Sunday at a cemetery in Perez, a town on the outskirts of Rosario.
The Inter Miami forward also spoke about the difficulty of accepting that his father was no longer there.
“Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone,” Messi continued. “It hasn’t sunk in, or rather, I don’t want it to.
“It’s so hard for me to imagine that I’ll never see you again, that we’ll never talk again. I know you were suffering and that this is for the best, but you left too soon. We still had so much left to enjoy together.”
Jorge’s health had become a concern during the 2026 World Cup. Messi was visibly emotional after scoring in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Algeria, later saying the reason was “completely unrelated to football”.
His family subsequently confirmed that Jorge was dealing with a “health-related situation”.
Messi said his father had repeatedly encouraged him to play at another World Cup, but his condition deteriorated shortly before the tournament began.
“You kept asking me to play in one last World Cup, and just days before it started, that’s when you took a turn for the worse,” he said.
“It was the first time you weren’t going to be at a tournament, but Mom kept telling me you’d get better and that you’d be well enough to travel. I kept telling you that we were going to make it to the final so you could come along.
“Every time a game ended, I’d wait for and miss your message. That’s when I realised how bad the situation was.”
Messi eventually led Argentina to the 2026 World Cup final, where they were beaten 1-0 by Spain. He then returned to Inter Miami.
Despite the disappointment of losing the final, Messi said he had continued pushing himself in the hope that his father would be able to watch him play.
Messi said, “Even so, I couldn’t stop thinking about going as far as possible, to give you time to watch a game. We made it to the final, and you couldn’t be there.
“I wanted to win it so I could bring the trophy to you and show you a new one. I couldn’t; my legs had nothing left. This time I tried to push past my physical limits, but I couldn’t. I never managed to feel right.”
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