For the first time since the death of his father Jorge Messi earlier this month, Lionel Messi has spoken publicly, sharing an emotional tribute that offered a deeply personal look at the grief he has been carrying throughout one of the most difficult periods of his life. The Argentina captain posted a photograph with his father alongside the simple caption, “Te amo, pa” (“I love you, Dad”), before accompanying it with a heartfelt letter reflecting on their relationship, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the uncertainty he now feels about life without the man who had been beside him since the very beginning.
“Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone”
Messi began by admitting that he is still struggling to accept his father’s passing.“Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone. It hasn’t sunk in, or rather, I don’t want it to. It’s so hard to imagine that I won’t see you anymore, that we won’t talk anymore.”While acknowledging that his father had been suffering, Messi admitted the loss came far sooner than he was prepared for.“I know you were suffering and that it’s for the best, but you left too soon. We still had so much to enjoy together.”
The World Cup promise that was never fulfilled
One of the most emotional passages centred on Argentina’s journey to the 2026 FIFA World Cup final.Messi revealed that Jorge had repeatedly urged him to play in what became his final World Cup, even as his health deteriorated in the days before the tournament.“You kept asking me to play in the last World Cup, and it was just days before it started that you were at your worst. It was the first time you weren’t going to be at a tournament, but Mom kept telling me you’d get better and that you’d be well enough to travel. I kept telling you we were going to make it to the final so you could go.”Throughout Argentina’s run, Messi said one thing remained painfully absent after every match“Every time a game ended, I waited for and missed your message. That’s when I realised how awful the situation really was.Argentina fulfilled its side of the promise by reaching the final against Spain, but Jorge was unable to make the trip.“We made it to the final, and you couldn’t be there.”Messi admitted that his greatest motivation became lifting the trophy for his father.“I wanted to win it so I could take it home and show you a new one. I couldn’t do it; my legs just wouldn’t give out. This time, I tried to push myself against my physical limitations, but I couldn’t.”Argentina eventually lost 1-0 to Spain in the final at New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19, despite Messi contributing eight goals and four assists across eight matches during the tournament.“When I arrived, you thought we’d lost the final on penalties. We couldn’t talk about anything that had happened. You couldn’t enjoy it at all. We weren’t champions, but you have no idea how much we enjoyed every single match.”
“I don’t know how to go on”
Perhaps the most striking section of Messi’s tribute came when he reflected on his future.“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, I don’t know how to go on. I just played football, and now I seriously doubt I’ll be able to keep doing it for much longer.”Although his words stopped well short of announcing any decision about retirement, they offered the clearest indication yet of how profoundly his father’s death has affected him.
More than a father
Jorge Messi was far more than the Argentina captain’s father. He managed his son’s career for decades, overseeing many of the biggest decisions from Lionel’s move to Barcelona as a teenager through his transfers to Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami, while also managing his commercial affairs throughout his professional career.But Messi chose to remember Jorge not for managing one of football’s greatest careers, but for the father he had always been.“You were a father, a friend and an agent. You were always the person you needed to be in every situation, and you were never wrong about anything.”He recalled how his father would finish work before taking him to training sessions, never missed a match, quietly endured every moment from the stands and, even when they disagreed, somehow always proved to be right.Messi ended by promising that Jorge’s influence would live on through the way he raises his own children.“I’m going to miss you so much, but you’ll always be with me, especially in my children’s upbringing, because I teach and raise them the way you raised me.“Rest in peace and watch over us from above, just like you did here.“Thank you for everything. I love you, Dad.”
