Lionel Messi’s decision to retire from international football has prompted calls in Argentina for the national team’s famous number 10 shirt to be withdrawn in his honour – but FIFA regulations could prevent the tribute in official competitions.
The Inter Miami forward announced his retirement on Monday in a statement posted on his Instagram account.
“After all this time since the final, and after much thought, I want to announce to everyone that I have decided to retire from playing with the national team,” Messi wrote.
His decision leaves Argentina facing the difficult question of who could inherit one of the most significant shirt numbers in international football. Marca suggested that Nico Paz, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez and Thiago Almada could be among the players considered, while stressing the difficulty of replacing Messi.
That prospect has led to growing calls in Argentina for the number 10 to be taken out of circulation, following the precedent set by Diego Maradona.
Supporters want to honour Messi by ensuring that no future Argentina player wears the shirt. However, fulfilling that wish would be complicated because FIFA rules require squad numbers to remain available at its tournaments.
In 2024, Argentine Football Association president Claudio Tapia said in an interview with Sport: “The number 10 shirt of the national team will be retired when Messi ends his international career.”
That statement appeared to make the association’s intention clear. But Marca reported that retiring the number would not be straightforward, because FIFA regulations prohibit national teams from permanently removing shirt numbers for its competitions. Friendly matches are treated differently.
At the World Cup, for example, FIFA requires squad numbers to run from one to 26, with no number omitted. As a result, Argentina’s plan would conflict with the governing body’s tournament rules.
There is already a historical precedent for the attempt to retire the number in honour of Maradona.
On 25 September 2001, the Argentine Football Association voted unanimously, on the initiative of its then-president Julio Grondona, to withdraw the number 10 shirt as a tribute to Maradona.
The decision was intended to take effect before the 2002 World Cup and appeared so certain that Argentine newspaper Ole published the front-page headline: “It is God’s will.”
But FIFA rejected the move. Ariel “El Burrito” Ortega wore the number 10 for Argentina at the 2002 World Cup, becoming the player to wear it most often between the eras of Maradona and Messi.
Argentina could still choose to leave the shirt unused in friendly matches, since those fixtures do not follow the same FIFA numbering restrictions. The team is expected to play friendlies in September and October, although those matches have not yet been confirmed.
Those games could provide an opportunity for Argentina to pay tribute to Messi, while the number 10 would remain unavailable for official FIFA competitions.
