The departure of a captain is never easy to digest, and for the players who shared the pitch with Lionel Messi in the national team, the idea of the group without him is still hard to accept. That feeling was clear in the words of one of his teammates, who admitted that the change has not fully sunk in yet.
Alexis Mac Allister said he has not completely processed Messi’s retirement, comparing it to the feeling after winning the World Cup, when some big moments take time to fully absorb. “Just like when we won the World Cup, there are still some huge things that we struggle to fully take in. I think we still haven’t really realized that Leo won’t be with us anymore,” the midfielder said in an interview with Los Edul.
The Liverpool player also added a hopeful note. While he said he understands the decision and everything that surrounded it, he said that he still feels “there’s a little door open” for Messi to return at some point. “Of course, I understand everything that happened, the decision he made, and everything surrounding it. But I don’t know, I still feel like there’s a little door open for him to return at some point,” Mac Allister added.
The midfielder was also clear that he respects Messi’s choice, and he highlighted how impressive it is to see him in such great physical shape and still performing at a high level. Messi said goodbye to the national team on Oct. 6 in a friendly against Benin at the Monumental, and Lionel Scaloni has since named his first squad without him, while the Argentine continues to lead MLS with Inter Miami.
A record book that will be hard to match
Messi’s career with Argentina closed after 21 years with a record book that no other player in the history of the national team can match. He leaves with 208 caps, 126 goals and 69 assists, which makes him the most-capped player, the all-time leading scorer and the player with the most assists in the history of the national team.
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His total is more than twice the 56 of Gabriel Batistuta, the player he passed as Argentina’s top scorer during the 2016 Copa America Centenario, and only Cristiano Ronaldo, with 146 for Portugal, has scored more international goals.
His marks in the World Cup are just as striking. Over six tournaments, he holds the records for matches played (34), wins (23) and assists (12), and his 21 goals rank second all-time, behind only Kylian Mbappe’s 22.
In South America, his 36 goals in World Cup qualifying are the most ever scored in the competition, and his 39 matches across seven editions of the Copa America are the most in the history of the tournament.
After losing finals in 2007, 2015 and 2016, he finally won his first senior title with Argentina in 2021 and then added the 2022 Finalissima, the World Cup in Qatar and the 2024 Copa America. Counting the 2005 Under-20 World Cup and the 2008 Olympic gold medal, he won six titles in an Argentina shirt, a legacy that goes beyond the numbers.
After 21 years of carrying the armband and the expectations of an entire country, Messi leaves behind a career that changed how Argentina is seen in world football, and a record book that will take generations to challenge.
