I doubt I’ll keep playing football without you, Messi mourns father

Lionel Messi has broken his silence following the death of his father, Jorge Messi, saying he is unsure whether he will continue playing football for much longer without him.

The Argentina captain shared an emotional tribute to his late father on Wednesday via his Instagram page, alongside a photograph of them together.

“Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone. It hasn’t sunk in—or rather, I don’t want it to sink in. It’s so hard to imagine that I won’t see you anymore, that we won’t talk anymore. I know you were suffering and that it’s for the best, but you left too soon. We still had so much left to enjoy together,” Messi wrote.

The Inter Miami forward recalled how much his father wanted him to play at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, revealing that Jorge’s condition deteriorated shortly before the tournament began.

null

“You wanted me to play in the last World Cup so much, and a few days before it started was when you took a turn for the worse. It was the first time you weren’t going to be at a tournament, but Mom kept telling me you’d get better and that you’d be fine enough to travel. I kept telling you we were going to make it to the final so you could make the trip,” he wrote.

Messi said he was reminded of his father’s deteriorating condition whenever he expected a message from him after Argentina’s matches.

“Every time a match ended, I waited for and missed your message. That was when I realized how truly bad the situation was. Even so, I couldn’t stop thinking about going as far as possible, just to give you time so you could watch a match,” he said.

He recalled Argentina’s run to the final and said he had hoped to win the trophy so he could show it to his father.

“We made it to the final and you couldn’t be there. I wanted to win it so I could bring it to you and show you a new trophy. I couldn’t do it—my legs just couldn’t give any more. This time I tried to push past my body, but I couldn’t. I was never able to feel right physically,” Messi wrote.

The footballer also revealed that his father initially believed Argentina had lost the final on penalties.

“When I arrived home, you thought we had lost the final on penalties. We couldn’t talk about anything that had happened. You didn’t get to enjoy any of it. We didn’t end up as champions, but you have no idea how much we enjoyed every match. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and play it,” he said.

Messi said the loss of his father had left him uncertain about his future in football.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, I don’t know how to move forward. Football was all I did, and now I have serious doubts about whether I’ll keep playing for much longer. 

You were by my side from the very beginning, and there was so little left until the end. Why couldn’t you hang on just a little longer so we could finish together?” he wrote.