Lionel Messi Retires From Argentina National Team

This is not the first time Messi has walked away. After unsuccessful early years with the national side, he retired in 2016 but quickly reversed the decision. Simon Kuper, a sports columnist for the Financial Times, told NPR (National Public Radio) that this time the retirement appears final: Messi is 39, an age at which no player has stayed at the top, and he would be 43 at the next World Cup. Kuper called Messi's most recent tournament "brilliant", noting that he scored eight goals and carried a flawed Argentina team to the final, where they lost to Spain. Personal loss also played a part. Messi's father, who managed his business affairs, died recently, and Messi wrote that after his father's death he knew the decision was right. He continues to play for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer and lives in Miami with his wife and three sons.

Argentina is preparing a farewell. The Argentine Football Association announced late on Wednesday that referees will stop play at the 10-minute mark of every match in the next round of the Clausura tournament, as well as in other men's and women's leagues, so crowds can applaud Messi for one minute. The gesture reflects the player's standing in a nation whose identity, Kuper argued, is expressed on the world stage largely through football. He suggested Messi has become "a kind of patron saint" of a country in long economic decline, alongside Diego Maradona in Argentina's footballing pantheon. Asked whether another player could take the No. 10 shirt, Kuper replied that there can never be another Messi.