Аргентины шигшээ багийн ахлагч Лионель Месси Дэлхийн аваргын тэмцээний дараа олон улсын тавцан дахь карьераа дуусгаж буйгаа албан ёсоор мэдэгдлээ.
Аргентины шигшээ багийн ахлагч, 39 настай Лионель Месси энэ зуны Дэлхийн аваргын тэмцээний дараа шигшээ багтаа тоглохоо болихоор шийдвэрлэжээ. Тэрээр даваа гарагт гаргасан энэхүү шийдвэрээ сэтгэл зүрхэнд нь маш хүнд тусаж байгаа ч цаг нь ирснийг ухамсарлаж буйгаа илэрхийлсэн байна. Испанийн шигшээ багтай хийсэн шигшээ тоглолт нь түүний хувьд үндэсний шигшээ багийнхаа төлөөх сүүлчийн тоглолт болсон бөгөөд уг тоглолтод 0:1-ийн харьцаатай хожигдсоноор тэрээр зургаа дахь Дэлхийн аваргын тэмцээнээ өндөрлүүлжээ.
Тус шигшээ тоглолтын 106 дахь минутад Ферран Торрес хожлын гоолыг оруулж, Аргентины багийг ялагдалд хүргэсэн юм. Месси энэ удаагийн тэмцээнийг 8 гоол, 4 оновчтой дамжуулалттайгаар дуусгаж, “Мөнгөн бөмбөг” шагналын эзэн болсон билээ. Тэрээр Дэлхийн аваргын түүхэнд нийт 207 тоглолт хийж, 125 гоол оруулсан үзүүлэлтээр Аргентины шигшээ багийн түүхэн дээд амжилтыг эзэмшдэг юм.
Месси 2022 оны Дэлхийн аваргад түрүүлж, хоёр ч удаа “Алтан бөмбөг” шагналыг хүртсэн төдийгүй 2021, 2024 оны Копа Америка тэмцээнд багаа тэргүүлэн түрүүлж байв. Олон улсын карьераа өндөрлүүлж буй тэрээр одоо АНУ-ын Интер Майами клубтэй байгуулсан гэрээнийхээ дагуу дахин хоёр жил тоглох юм. Тэрээр өмнө нь багийн нөхдөдөө туслах боломжгүй болох хүртлээ тоглолтоо үргэлжлүүлнэ гэж мэдэгдэж байсан билээ.
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Argentinacaptain Lionel Messi has retired from international football following this summer’s World Cup.
The 39-year-old’s final appearance for his nation was the final defeat by Spain to conclude his sixth World Cup campaign — one in which he became only the third player (after Brazil’s Cafu) to appear in three men’s World Cup finals, having won the previous edition in 2022.
Confirming his retirement from international duty on Monday, the Inter Miami star said the decision “hurts deep in my soul”, but added that he “realises the time has come”.
Argentina’s next major tournament will be the Copa America in 2028, when Messi will be aged 41. The next World Cup, which will have one match in Argentina (as well as one each in Paraguay and Uruguay) before being primarily hosted in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, would see Messi turn 43 midway through.
Argentina and Messi were nullified by Spain in July’s final, as the South American champions registered only two shots in 120 minutes — one from Messi, which was blocked — before Ferran Torres scored the 106th-minute winner.
“The pain is immense and it’s going to take a long time for this wound to heal,” Messi wrote on Instagram after the final. “But I’ll also hold on to all the good memories … the matches we turned around by giving our all, which will remain in our memories forever; the support of an entire country which, together with the hard work and effort of this squad, led us to be, once again, amongst the best in the world. It’s hard to appreciate what we achieved today, but this squad reached two consecutive World Cup finals.”
Messi ended the tournament with eight goals and four assists, finishing second in the Golden Boot race behind France’s Kylian Mbappe, and with the Silver Ball award — finishing behind Golden Ball award-winner Rodri.
Argentina captain Messi had become the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup history during the tournament in North America, surpassing Germany’s Miroslav Klose (16) when he scored the opener in the 2-0 group-stage win against Austria. However, that record was short-lived after Mbappe’s double in the third-place play-off against England saw the France captain move to 22 total World Cup goals.
Messi is widely recognised as one of the best players of all time, and is his country’s all-time record appearance holder (207) and goalscorer (125).
The 2026 World Cup was Messi’s sixth, the joint-most editions played in by any player at the men’s tournament alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. The 2010 World Cup in South Africa is the only one in which he failed to score.
Messi has captained Argentina since 2011 and won the World Cup in 2022 for the first time. He is a two-time winner of the World Cup Golden Ball, presented with the award for the tournament’s best player in 2014 and 2022.
Messi played a crucial role in leading his country to winning their first World Cup since 1986 in 2022, when he scored seven goals en route to Argentina lifting the trophy in Qatar. It added the major trophy which had eluded him during his international career, having twice won the Copa America, in 2021 and 2024, and led to him winning his eighth Ballon d’Or — the most of any player in history.
While the forward brings an end to his international career,he is contracted for another two years with MLS club Inter Miami. Upon the end of the World Cup, he will resume his fourth season with the club, which he joined in the summer of 2023 from Paris Saint-Germain.
Speaking in 2024, Messi said he would not retire until “I can no longer perform, or no longer enjoy the game, or not able to help my team-mates”.
