124 goals. 203 caps. Six World Cups. Lionel Messi has formally ended his Argentina career, and the football world is still processing it.
Indian politician Chandy Oommen — a Congress MLA who's apparently also a football fan with feelings — made headlines by publicly hoping Messi transitions into coaching or promotion after hanging up the international jersey. "He might not be a player, but he might remain in the Football world in various roles," Oommen told ANI. It's a sentiment shared by millions, even if most of them aren't state legislators.
What the career actually was
Messi's Argentina story wasn't a straight line to glory. He retired from international football in 2016 after yet another Copa America final loss — his third final defeat in three years — then reversed that decision and came back to finish the job properly. Few players get a second chance at redemption at that level. Fewer still take it.
He won the Copa America in 2021, ending Argentina's 28-year wait for a major trophy. Then came Qatar 2022 — a final against France that finished 3-3 after extra time, settled 4-2 on penalties, with Messi scoring twice and converting his spot kick. The greatest prize in football, claimed at 35. Then another Copa America in 2024 for good measure.
At the 2026 World Cup, he scored eight goals and laid on four assists, including his first-ever World Cup hat-trick against Algeria. He ends his World Cup journey with 21 goals in 34 appearances across six tournaments — second only to Kylian Mbappe's 22, a record that stood until Mbappe edged past him.
What's left
Club football isn't done with him yet. Messi continues at Inter Miami in MLS, which means the highlights reel isn't completely closed. But his days shaping Argentina's fortunes — in qualifiers, in finals, in shootouts that stop the planet — those are finished.
Whether he moves into coaching or promotion after hanging up his boots entirely is anyone's guess. What's not in question is the scale of what he leaves behind: the all-time leading scorer in South American international football history, and the man who finally delivered Argentina's World Cup after a 36-year wait.
