Lionel Messi broke his silence for the first time since the passing of his father and agent, Jorge Messi, dedicating a long, emotional message to him that revealed the depth of his pain and the details of their final days together, which coincided with the 2026 World Cup.
The Argentine captain published his message via his official Instagram account after his father passed away at the age of 68, following a battle with an illness that the family chose to keep private.
What did Messi say after his father’s death?
“Dad, I still can’t believe you are gone. I can’t process it, or rather, I don’t want to process it. It is very hard for me to imagine that I will never see you again, and that we will no longer talk. I know you were suffering and that this was best for you, but you left too early. We still had so much to enjoy together.
You asked me so many times to play in this last World Cup, and in the days right before it started, your condition worsened. It was the first time you wouldn’t be present at a tournament, but mom told me you would get better and that your health would allow you to travel. I kept telling you that we would reach the final so you could attend.
Every time a match ended, I waited for your message and missed it. That’s when I realized the situation was really bad. Even so, I never stopped thinking about going as far as possible, just to give you more time so you could watch a game. We reached the final, but you couldn’t make it.
I wanted to win the title to bring it to you and show you a new trophy, but I couldn’t, my legs couldn’t give me any more. I tried to defy my body this time, but I couldn’t do it. I never managed to feel completely well.
When I returned, you thought we had lost the final on penalties. We couldn’t talk about anything that happened, and you couldn’t enjoy any of it.
We didn’t become champions, but you don’t know how much we enjoyed every match. Once again, you were right; I had to be there and participate in the tournament.
I’m telling you this because it was the only thing we couldn’t talk about, as for everything else, you already know. We talked every day and saw each other whenever my commitments allowed.
I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, and I don’t know how to carry on. All I ever did was play football, and now I have many doubts about whether I will continue playing it for much longer.
You were by my side from the beginning, and there was so little left until the end. Why didn’t you hold on for that little bit so we could finish the journey together?
I know your happiness was seeing your family well, your wife and children, and above all, without the others knowing, seeing me play.
It was always like this since my childhood. You would take me to all the training sessions right after coming back from work, while mom would take me to many of them when you were busy with your job.
Of course, you never missed a single match. How much you suffered watching me, and how much you enjoyed it, even though you didn’t give me many words of praise.
You were my father, my friend, and my agent. You were always the person I needed in every moment, and you never got anything wrong. Aside from some reproaches or arguments, you were always right, and in the end, things turned out just as you said.
I will miss you so much, but you will always be present, especially in raising my children, because I am teaching and raising them the same way you and mom raised me.
Rest in peace, and watch over us from heaven just as you did with us here. Thank you for everything.”
