Lionel Messi has admitted he does not know how much longer he will continue playing football after the death of his father, Jorge, at the age of 68.
Lionel Messi has admitted he does not know how much longer he will continue playing football after the death of his father, Jorge, at the age of 68.
Jorge Messi, who had been his son’s agent since the future Argentina captain was 14, died last week after a long illness. His influence stretched across Messi’s entire career, from his emergence as a teenage prodigy to his status as one of football’s greatest players.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you,” Messi wrote in an emotional tribute. “I don’t know how to carry on. I used to just play football, and now I’m really not sure if I’ll carry on doing it for much longer.”
Messi returned to Rosario with his family after his father died in hospital in the city. A private funeral was held on Sunday in nearby Perez.
The Inter Miami forward also reflected on the 2026 World Cup, where Argentina reached the final before losing 1-0 to Spain. Messi had hoped Jorge would be able to watch him compete at the tournament, but his father’s condition deteriorated shortly before it began.
“You kept asking me to play in one last World Cup,” Messi wrote. “I kept telling you that we were going to make it to the final so you could come along.”
Messi said he waited for his father’s messages after matches before realising how serious his condition had become. He continued despite the circumstances, eventually leading Argentina to the final.
“I wanted to win it so I could bring the trophy to you and show you a new one,” he wrote. “I couldn’t, my legs had nothing left.”
Messi, 39, scored eight goals and provided four assists in eight appearances during his sixth World Cup. But his tribute made clear that football now carries a different meaning without the father who had been beside him from the beginning.
