Lionel Messi played his final game for Argentina on October 6 — a farewell friendly against Benin at the Estadio Monumental — and the obvious question followed immediately: what happens to the No. 10? The answer is more complicated than it should be, and Argentina has the paperwork to prove it.
FIFA doesn't allow national teams to leave numbers vacant at official tournaments. At the 2026 World Cup, squads must number their players 1 through 26. Argentina can't simply declare that shirt retired and show up with a gap in the squad list. Someone will wear it. That's not a choice — it's a regulation.
Argentina already tried this with Maradona
This isn't even new territory for the AFA. Before the 2002 World Cup, Argentina formally requested that FIFA retire the No. 10 in honor of Diego Maradona. FIFA said no. Ariel Ortega wore the shirt in South Korea and Japan. That precedent effectively closes the door on any permanent retirement for Messi's number too.
What Argentina can do is leave it unassigned in friendlies — which is exactly what Lionel Scaloni did in the lead-up to Messi's farewell match. But that symbolic gesture evaporates the moment Argentina enters competitive football.
The contrast with American sports is stark but ultimately irrelevant. The NBA retired Bill Russell's No. 6 league-wide. MLB did the same with Jackie Robinson's No. 42. The NHL locked away Wayne Gretzky's No. 99 forever. Those leagues control their own numbering systems. FIFA controls Argentina's, at least when it matters most.
So who's next?
Scaloni has made clear the number won't be handed out casually — not immediately, and not without weight. But eventually, officially, it has to go somewhere. Names like Nico Paz and Franco Mastantuono have surfaced in early conversations, though neither has been anointed anything close to a successor yet.
Whoever gets it inherits a shirt worn by the two greatest players Argentina has ever produced. Maradona lifted it to myth in 1986. Messi carried it to a World Cup in 2022 — 39 years old, 180 caps, Argentina's all-time leader in both appearances and goals.
The legacy is untouchable. The shirt, by FIFA's rules, is not.
