Lionel Messi broke his silence this Monday with a message on his Instagram account following Argentina's defeat against Spain in the final of the 2026 World Cup, held on Sunday, July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
"The pain is very great and it will be hard for this wound to heal," wrote the captain in sky blue, with the runner-up medal still hanging around his neck in the photograph that accompanied the post.
Spain crowned itself world champion for the second time in its history by defeating 1-0 in extra time, with a goal from Ferrán Torres in the 106th minute after a cross from Nico Williams. The 90 minutes of regulation had ended without goals in front of 82,500 spectators in the stadium.
Argentina, the reigning champion since Qatar 2022, aimed to become the third team to defend a World Cup title, but was unable to achieve this. For Messi, who was 39 years old when playing in the final, it marked the end of a 20-year World Cup career and six tournaments.
Despite the pain, the Rosario native also chose to focus on the positive in his message. "I’ll hold on to all the good… to the matches we turned around by giving our all, which will remain forever in our memory, to the support of an entire country that, along with the hard work and effort of this group, has brought us back to being, once again, among the best in the world," he wrote.
The Argentine star acknowledged that time will be needed to fully appreciate what has been achieved: "It's hard to value what we did today, but this group reached two consecutive World Cup finals".
Messi concluded the tournament with historic records: 21 goals in World Cups —the all-time top scorer, surpassing Miroslav Klose's 16—, 12 assists, and 34 matches played, both absolute records for the competition. In this 2026 World Cup, he scored eight goals and provided four assists in seven matches.
The final was also marked by a violent reaction from Leandro Paredes against Spanish players after the final whistle, an episode that overshadowed the conclusion of the tournament.
Messi's message included a thank you to the fans and a note of sportsmanship towards the rival: "Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and every message. Once again, we managed to unite as a country and be together, sharing the immense pride of being Argentine. I also want to congratulate Spain on the championship."
The post accumulated more than 1,077,000 likes and nearly 95,000 comments in just a few hours, reflecting the global impact of the World Cup finale of one of the most extraordinary races in the history of football.
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