An era ended in international football following Lionel Messi’s retirement. Messi, who played six World Cups for Argentina, failed to lead them to their second consecutive title win.
Messi-led Argentina lost to Spain 1-0 in extra time on July 19. One of the greatest players of all time, Messi retired with plenty of records that cemented his status as the GOAT of football. He has the most World Cup wins for any player. The one-time World Cup-winning captain won 23 games at the global event.
The most-capped Argentina player, Messi scored 19 World Cup goals, most for his country. He also holds the record for scoring the most goals in a single World Cup edition for Argentina. He found the back of the net eight times in 2026.
Argentina will miss Messi’s magic the next time they take the field. But will Inter Miami also miss Messi’s services or will he continue playing for his club?
Lionel Messi will continue playing for Inter Miami
Lionel has only retired from international football and he will continue playing for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer. Messi, who left his childhood club Barcelona in 2021, joined PSG. After the end of his two-year contract with PSG, Messi moved to the US and joined Inter Miami in 2023.
Inter Miami re-signed Messi for a three-year period in October 2025. In March this year, Jorge Mas, Inter Miami’s co-owner, revealed that Messi is paid $70 to $80 million per year.
“The reason that I need to have sponsors and for them to be world-class is because players are expensive. I pay Messi — worth every penny — but it’s $70 million to $80 million a year. Across everything,” he told Bloomberg.
Messi will honour his ongoing contract with Inter Miami and is only expected to take a call on his playing future in 2028. He recently scored four goals for Inter Miami as they crushed Montreal 7-0.