Lionel Messi has not ruled out continuing his international career with Argentina, despite being 39 and coming off a World Cup in which he scored eight goals and led the team to a bitter runners-up finish.
The Inter Miami forward has yet to make a definitive call on whether he will carry on playing for the national team, according to Spanish newspaper Marca, which reports that “all scenarios remain open” over his future with the Albiceleste in the coming months and years.
Argentina’s football authorities are understood to be planning on Messi remaining part of the squad for now, with a medium-term focus on the 2028 Copa America – but the captain has, so far, committed to neither retirement nor a new cycle.
World Cup heartbreak complicates retirement question
At 39, and after another gruelling World Cup campaign in which he was Argentina’s outstanding performer, many expected Messi might walk away from the international stage following the tournament.
But finishing second, and the lingering sense of “what might have been”, could yet influence his thinking – or prove irrelevant to it. The article notes that the disappointment of losing the final may change his calculations, “or maybe it won’t”, especially as he had already been entertaining the idea of staying on with the national team before the tournament began.
The coming weeks and months are therefore viewed as decisive in determining whether Messi chooses to continue or finally closes a historic chapter with Argentina.
‘Year by year’ approach to international career
Messi has repeatedly said that, at this point of his career, he evaluates his future on a short-term basis, dictated above all by fitness rather than ambition.
He “always repeats” a simple, logical idea linked to his age: he is living his international career “year by year”, making decisions based on how his body responds.
At present, his physical condition appears strong – something he underlined with his influential, high-intensity displays throughout the World Cup. Yet nobody, the report stresses, can know how he will feel in a year’s time. “Perhaps Messi himself doesn’t know either,” it adds.
Copa America 2028 looms as next major target
The next major title on Argentina’s horizon is the 2028 Copa America, expected to be staged in the United States.
The tournament is two years away – matching the remaining duration of Messi’s contract with MLS side Inter Miami – and is therefore seen as a natural reference point for any decision about his international future.
If Messi does commit to another cycle, the Copa America would likely be his last major competition with Argentina and an opportunity to add yet another continental crown to his historic haul.
Friendly schedule and ‘different’ World Cup qualifiers
Before that, Argentina are set for six international friendlies in September, October and November, under the continued stewardship of head coach Lionel Scaloni, who remains in charge of the world champions.
After this block of friendlies, the team will move fully into qualification fixtures for the 2030 World Cup – a process that will be unlike any previous South American campaign.
Argentina have already secured their place at the 2030 finals, alongside Paraguay and Uruguay, as symbolic co-hosts of the centenary tournament. That means the Albiceleste will not be under pressure to collect points in the same way as in past qualifiers.
Possible new CONMEBOL competition – with or without Messi?
Because Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay are already guaranteed spots at the 2030 World Cup, CONMEBOL is reportedly considering creating a new competition, similar in format to the UEFA Nations League, to provide the three nations with meaningful fixtures and extra motivation.
Whether such a tournament is introduced, and what form it might take, remains to be seen. But if it does go ahead, one question is likely to dominate the build-up:
Will Lionel Messi still be there to lead Argentina – or will the World Cup runner-up finish prove to be the last chapter of his extraordinary international story?
