Messi pays tribute to father who guided career from Rosario to Barcelona

Lionel Messi has spoken publicly for the first time since the passing of his father Jorge, publishing an emotional two-page letter on Instagram and confirming he is unsure whether his playing career will last much longer.

Jorge Messi passed away aged 68 on 8 August. The family had previously announced on 18 June, during the World Cup, that he was experiencing health issues and was under close medical attention. After Argentina’s group-stage win over Algeria, Messi said his emotional reaction to scoring twice was due to “some difficult, complicated days.”

“I will miss you so much”

The 39-year-old posted the letter on Wednesday, translated from Spanish, in which he said he still cannot believe his father is gone.

“Dad, I really can’t believe that you are gone. It hasn’t sunk in, and I don’t want it to sink in. It’s very difficult for me to imagine I won’t see you anymore, that we won’t speak anymore.”

Messi wrote that his father had asked him to play his last World Cup and became worse just days before the tournament began. It was the first time Jorge would not be at a tournament, but Messi’s mother told him he would get better and be well enough to travel.

“I told you we would get to the Final so you could travel. At the end of every match I waited and missed your message. That’s when I realized the situation was really bad. Despite it all, I just thought about going as far as possible to give you time to see a match. We made it to the Final but you couldn’t be there. I wanted to win it to lift it and show you a new one. I couldn’t, my legs couldn’t give any more.”

He added: “When I arrived you thought we had lost the Final on penalties. We couldn’t talk about anything that happened. You couldn’t enjoy any of it. We weren’t champions, but you don’t know how much we enjoyed every match.”

Messi described Jorge as a father, friend and agent who was always right, and said the loss is reshaping his future.

“All I ever did was play football, and now I have a fair few doubts as to whether I’ll carry on doing it for much longer. You were by my side from the start, we were so close to the end. Why didn’t you hang on just that little bit longer so we could finish it together?”

From Rosario to the world

Jorge Messi was a supervisor at a metal factory in Rosario before his son’s career took off. He helped coach at the local Grandoli soccer club where Lionel played his first games before Newell’s Old Boys, and accompanied the 13-year-old to Spain for a Barcelona trial in September 2000.

The move led to 21 years at Barcelona’s La Masia and first team, where Messi scored a club-record 672 goals in 778 appearances. He later joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 before moving to MLS in 2023 with Inter Miami.

Despite advisors and counsellors departing over the years, the father-son duo remained closely linked. Messi wrote: “You took me to every training session after you got home from work… Of course, you never missed a single match. How you suffered watching me and how you enjoyed it, even though you never showered me with praise.”

He closed the letter: “I will miss you so much, but you will always be present above all else in the education of my children, because I’ll always teach them as you taught me. Rest in peace and take care of us from above as you did here. Thank you for everything. I love you, Dad.”

Tributes

Long-term rival Cristiano Ronaldo paid tribute on Instagram: “A huge hug to you and your loved ones during these difficult times, Leo. Stay strong.”