Lionel Messi is experiencing one of the most difficult moments of his life, following the death of his father, Jorge Messi, at the age of 68.
The Argentine footballer’s father passed away in Rosario after a serious health crisis. He was a key figure in his son’s life and career, accompanying him from his first football steps to the top of world football.
Jorge Messi was the one who traveled with the then young Lionel to Barcelona, paving the way for his entry into the Barcelona academy. He then took over the management of his career and remained one of his closest collaborators and advisors.
A few days after his loss, Lionel Messi posted a lengthy farewell message on Instagram. He referred to their relationship, the last difficult days and his father’s absence from the 2026 World Cup.
At the same time, the Argentine even left open the possibility that he might not play for much longer, explaining that he finds it difficult to imagine the future without the man who has been by his side from the beginning.
Lionel Messi’s full message
Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone. I can’t believe it, or rather, I don’t want to believe it. It’s so hard for me to imagine that I won’t see you again, that we won’t talk again. I know you suffered and that maybe that was for the best, but you left too soon. We still had so much to live for together.
You asked me so much to play in the last World Cup and a few days before it started you got worse. It was the first time you weren’t going to be at a tournament, but mom kept telling me that you would get better and that you would be well enough to travel. I kept telling you that we would reach the final so that you could come.
Every time a match ended I waited and missed your message. That’s when I realized that the situation was really bad. Despite all this, I couldn’t stop thinking that we had to get as far away as possible, to give you time and time to watch a match.
We reached the final and you couldn’t be there. I wanted to win it so I could take the trophy from you and show you a new one. I couldn’t, my legs couldn’t take it anymore. This time I tried to push my body beyond its limits, but I couldn’t. I never felt good.
When I came back, you thought we had lost the final on penalties. We didn’t get to talk about anything that happened. You couldn’t be happy about anything. We didn’t become champions, but you can’t imagine how much we enjoyed every match. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and experience it.
I’m telling you this because it was the only thing we didn’t get to talk about, because you already knew everything else. We talked every day and saw each other whenever we could, depending on my obligations.
I don’t know what I’ll do without you, I don’t know how to continue. I only played football and now I have many doubts about whether I’ll continue to do it for much longer. You were by my side from the beginning, it was so short until the end. Why didn’t you hold out a little longer, so we could finish it together?
I know that your happiness was seeing your family, your wife, your children well and, above all, without others finding out, seeing me play… 😉
It was always like that when I was little. You would take me to all the training sessions as soon as you got home from work. Mom would take me to many of them, because you were working.
Of course, you never lost a single match. How much you suffered watching me and how much you enjoyed it, even though you never gave me many compliments.
You were a father, a friend, and a manager. You were always the person you needed to be at any given moment and you never made a mistake in anything. Despite the occasional remark or argument, you were always right. In the end, things happened the way you said they would.
I will miss you very much, but you will always be present, and especially in the way I raise my children, because I teach and educate them just as you did with me.
Rest in peace and watch over us from above, as you did here. Thank you for everything.
I love you, dad. ❤️
The post prompted thousands of messages of support from friends, fans and football people. Among them was Cristiano Ronaldo, who publicly sent strength to Messi and his family.
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