A day before the big match with Colombia, the Argentina team held a farewell party for Di Maria – who decided to retire from international football after the 2024 Copa America final. On this occasion, coach Scaloni wanted Messi to participate in the 2026 World Cup even if he did not play.
Messi was heavily criticized when Argentina lost two consecutive finals to Chile at the 2015 and 2016 Copa Americas. He also intended to leave the Argentina team after the failure at the 2018 World Cup. But two consecutive championships at the 2021 Copa America and especially the 2022 World Cup made Messi change his mind. Messi wanted to enjoy the feeling of playing as a world champion, but the 2024 Copa America almost made him disillusioned.
Messi and teammates lift the Copa America 2024 trophy. Photo: Getty
In the 66th minute of the Copa America 2024 final on the morning of July 15 (Vietnam time), Messi had to leave the field reluctantly due to injury. Outside the pitch, he kept covering his face and crying. The image above was continuously pointed at by the camera, causing many fans who love him to feel pain, just like Ronaldo cried when he missed a penalty at Euro 2024. At that moment, Messi realized that these could be his last moments with the Argentina team. But then Lautaro Martinez “dried” Messi’s tears when he shone with a goal to seal a 1-0 victory in the 112th minute. After the moment of ecstasy, Lautaro Martinez ran to hug Messi, simply because to him and his teammates, Messi is a living monument, the spiritual leader of the whole team and the faith of Argentine football. Throughout the tournament, Messi did not make many professional contributions, he made many people worry because of his constant recurrence of injuries and the burden of age. But that doesn’t matter, the Argentina team just needs Messi on the field, he can walk, it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t score.
The 1-0 victory over Colombia helped Argentina become the most Copa America champions in history (16 times); at the same time, it repeated the achievement of Spain, who won 3 consecutive major tournaments. For Spain, it was the Euro 2008 championship, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. For Argentina, it was the Copa America 2021, World Cup 2022 and Copa America 2024 titles. For Messi, this championship enriches his already brilliant career with 1 World Cup, 2 Copa America, 4 Champions League, 10 La Liga, 8 Golden Balls… The Copa America 2024 championship also keeps Messi’s career in the national team. In two years, Messi will be 39 years old. Not only the Argentine people, but also football fans who love beautiful football want Messi to participate in the 2026 World Cup.
