After his fourth loss in a major international tournament final in 2016, Lionel Messi had had enough. It was too much to bear for the Argentine. So, he decided to retire from international football.
Argentina was defeated 4-2 in a penalty shootout by Chile in the Copa America final in 2016. Messi announced his retirement from international football soon after that.
A few months later, Messi reconsidered his decision and announced that he would continue playing for Argentina’s national team. Messi had said that Argentine football has “a lot of problems.” It was related to the financial chaos the Argentine federation was in then.
“There are a lot of issues that need to be resolved in Argentine football, but I prefer to help from within and not criticize from the outside,” Messi said. “I don’t want to cause any harm, I’ve always tried to do the exact opposite and help out in whatever way possible.”
He thanked those who wanted him “to continue playing for Argentina.”
“I hope that we’ll be able to give them something to cheer about soon,” Messi said.
One of those who wanted him back was Lionel Scaloni. He had tweeted an image of Messi surrounded by defenders while keeping the ball. The post was captioned, “This image says it all… Don’t go Lio.”
esta imagen lo dice todo…. no te vayas Lio pic.twitter.com/zjV8vRusek
— Lionel Scaloni (@lioscaloni) June 29, 2016
Fast forward six years, the two Lionels have been instrumental in winning Argentina three international trophies including the FIFA World Cup 2022. The tweet went viral after Argentina defeated Brazil 1-0 to win the 2021 Copa America. It resurfaced again on Twitter after the World Cup final win.
How many titles did Lionel Scaloni and Messi win together?
Lionel Scaloni became the manager of the Argentina soccer team in November 2018. His first major tournament was the Copa America 2019 where he finished third.
In 2021, Scaloni and Messi defeated Brazil 1-0 in the Copa America final via an Angel Di Maria goal to win the nation’s first competitive trophy in 28 years.
On June 1, 2022, Scaloni’s Argentina defeated UEFA Euro 2020 winners, Italy, to win the 2022 Finalissima at Wembley Stadium.
The #FIFAWorldCup Champions club has a glorious new entrant 🇦🇷
🏆 Lionel Messi's Argentina! pic.twitter.com/pZxZYRs8O3
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 19, 2022
Most recently, on December 18, 2022, Scaloni and Messi led Argentina to their first World Cup in 36 years etching their name in history.
Will Lionel Messi retire from international soccer after FIFA World Cup 2022 win?
Paris Saint-Germain star Messi will continue to enthrall us as he has announced that he is not retiring soon.
“No, I’m not going to retire from the Argentina national team. I want to continue playing as a champion,” he told TyC Sports, as quoted by Goal.com.
He's going nowhere just yet ❌#FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 19, 2022
The 35-year-old who has played in five World Cups so far, announced earlier that this will be his last World Cup.
“I feel very happy, to be able to achieve this, to finish my World Cup journey by playing my last game in a final.”
“It’s many years for the next one and I don’t think I’ll be able to do it. And to finish like this, it’s the best,” he added.
Messi scored a brace in the World Cup final against France to help Argentina secure their third FIFA World Cup overall.