After helping Argentina win the 2022 World Cup in a stunning penalty shootout victory over France on Sunday, Lionel Messi has said he would not retire from international football.
At the Lusail Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Messi first scored from the penalty spot before adding another goal in extra time when the ball dropped to him in the 6-yard box. A few minutes later, France’s Kylian Mbappe scored a penalty to complete his hat trick, but Argentina prevailed 4-2 in the shootout to win their third World Cup.
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After announcing last month that this World Cup would be his last, Messi, 35, set the record for most World Cup appearances on Sunday when he played in his 26th match.
Messi told TyC that he expects to play for Argentina for a little longer despite earning the one major award that has eluded him throughout his trophy-laden career.
Messi claimed, “I won the World Cup and the Copa America in a short period of time. “I enjoy my work with the national team and hope to win the global championship for a few more games.
He continued, “I’m taking the Cup to Argentina to celebrate with you.
Helping Argentina win their first world championship since Diego Maradona led them to triumph in Mexico in 1986, according to Messi, was the fulfillment of a “childhood fantasy.”
Anyone’s childhood fantasy, according to Messi. “I was fortunate to succeed in everything I set out to do in this profession, and now the one I was lacking is here.
“It’s crazy. Look at how beautiful she [the World Cup] is. She was everything to me. She was getting closer, and I got a vision that she was going to be the one.
“We struggle, but it’s already ours (the World Cup). I wanted to end my career on this note. Thank God, he has given me everything, and I can no longer ask for anything else “Added he.
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Messi will always be welcome to play for Argentina, according to Lionel Scaloni, head coach of that nation.
The World Cup in 2026 must first be saved for him, according to Scaloni. “He will be here with us if he wants to keep playing. He has every right, in my opinion, to determine what he wants to do with his career and if he wants to continue playing.
“Coaching him and his teammates is such a joy for us. I have never witnessed a player or someone who offers so much to his teammates as he does in all he transmits to his teammates.