Football celebrity Lionel Messi announced his retirement from World Cup on Thursday. The 35-year-old said that this year’s quadrangular tournament in Qatar will be the final World Cup of his career. However, he did not make it clear if he would retire from the national team after Qatar.
This will be my last World Cup – for sure. The decision has been made,” he told Argentine journalist Sebastian Vignolo in an interaction replying to speculations if this would be his last world cup. Messi is yet to win the WC trophy and this would be the last time he could gun for it.
Messi is set to play in his fifth World Cup in Qatar – he has scored six goals in the previous four editions of the tournament. Argentina won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986. The team will open the tournament on November 22 against Saudi Arabia in Group C before facing Mexico and Poland.
The Argentina player stands at 90 goals in 164 games, making him the third-highest goal scorer ever in men’s international football behind Cristiano Ronaldo (117) and Iran’s Ali Daei (109).
Messi announced his retirement from international football in 2016 after losing in the Copa America final against Chile, but he quickly reversed his decision and has remained the captain of the team ever since.