Five days after Spain broke Argentine hearts in extra time at MetLife Stadium, the clearest word yet on Lionel Messi's international future has come not from the man himself, but from a teammate.
Leandro Paredes, speaking to DSports in the mixed zone at La Bombonera after Boca Juniors' 1-0 Copa Sudamericana win over O'Higgins, said he believes Messi had already resolved, before a ball was kicked in the final, that the game against Spain would be his last in an Argentina shirt.
"It hurts, because we didn't want that last match to arrive," Paredes said. "He had made a decision, which was for that to be his last match with the Argentina national team. Hopefully not, hopefully he can keep playing." He added that the choice would rest with Messi alone: "Whatever makes him happy will surely make us happy too."
The final itself ended in the cruellest way for Argentina. Spain won 1-0 after extra time on July 19, Ferran Torres converting in the 106th minute to end Argentina's bid for a fourth star. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez set a World Cup final record with 11 saves in a losing effort, unable to prevent Spain from lifting the trophy for the second time.
Messi played every minute of the 120, appearing in his third World Cup final after 2014 and 2022 — a feat matched previously only by Brazil's Cafu. It was the one major final that had eluded him at club or country level as a winner, and this time it slipped away in stoppage time of extra time.
Messi has not made any public declaration about retiring from the national team. In his own comments after the match, carried by Walla Sport, he said only that "the pain is huge, it will take time to heal the wound," stopping well short of confirming Paredes's account.
Reporting elsewhere has been less definitive. Some outlets, including beIN Sports, have suggested Messi may yet delay any international retirement and could instead be honoured with a proper farewell match at a later date — underlining that, for now, this remains a teammate's reading of the situation rather than a confirmed decision from Messi.
Argentina's manager and squad have offered similar caution in the days since the final, with coach Lionel Scaloni also declining to commit to his own future. For a team that won the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 World Cup with Messi at its core, the uncertainty over whether Sunday's final was truly his last international appearance now hangs over the entire setup.
Nothing changes that fact until Messi says so himself — but Paredes's account, from inside the dressing room, is the strongest signal yet that the captain may already have made peace with the ending.
