Global football icon Lionel Messi has shared a heart-wrenching public tribute following the passing of his father and long-time agent Jorge Messi, who died last week at age 68 after a prolonged battle with illness. The 8-time Ballon d’Or winner, who most recently captained Argentina to the 2026 FIFA World Cup final, opened up about his crippling grief and cast major doubt over how much longer he will continue competing at the highest level of the sport.
Jorge Messi had stood by his son’s side since the start of Lionel’s legendary career, taking on the role of his agent when the future star was just 14 years old. He watched from the stands as Lionel climbed to become one of the greatest footballers the game has ever seen, including cheering on Argentina’s 2022 World Cup triumph in Qatar. Now, just weeks after the 2026 World Cup concluded with Argentina falling 1-0 to Spain in the final, the football world is mourning the loss of the man who shaped one of its biggest legends.
In a raw, emotional social media post shared after Jorge’s passing, Messi laid bare the depth of his loss. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without you,” he wrote. “I don’t know how to carry on. I used to just play football, and now I’m really not sure if I’ll carry on doing it for much longer. You were by my side from the very beginning. We were so close to the end. Why didn’t you hang in there just a little longer so we could finish this together?”
After Jorge passed away at a hospital in the Messi family’s hometown of Rosario, Argentina, Lionel returned home with his immediate family to grieve. A small, private funeral service was held Sunday at a cemetery in Perez, a quiet town on Rosario’s outskirts. Messi added that the reality of his father’s death still has not set in: “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 for me to imagine that I’ll never see you again, that we’ll never talk again. I know you were suffering and that this is for the best, but you left too soon. We still had so much left to enjoy together.”
The 2026 World Cup, which marked Messi’s sixth appearance at the tournament, was overshadowed by Jorge’s declining health. Early in the tournament, Messi was seen in tears after scoring against Algeria, a moment he hinted at the time was tied to something outside of football; his family later confirmed Jorge was already battling serious health complications. In his tribute, Messi revealed Jorge had repeatedly encouraged him to play in what would be his final World Cup, but his father’s health took a sudden turn for the worse just days before the tournament kicked off.
“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,” Messi recalled. “I kept telling you that we were going to make it to the final so you could come along. Every time a game ended, I’d wait for and miss your message. That’s when I realised how bad the situation was. Even so, I couldn’t stop thinking about going as far as possible, to give you time to watch a game. We made it to the final, and you couldn’t be there. I wanted to win it so I could bring the trophy to you and show you a new one. I couldn’t, my legs had nothing left. This time I tried to push past my physical limits, but I couldn’t. I never managed to feel right.”
Across eight matches at the 2026 World Cup, Messi scored eight goals and notched four assists, cementing his legacy as one of the tournament’s greatest ever competitors. Looking back on his father’s support over decades, Messi noted that Jorge never missed a single one of his matches, even when his health began to fail: “Of course, you never missed a single game. How you suffered watching me play and how much you enjoyed it, even though you never gave me much praise. You were my dad, my friend and my mentor. You were always exactly the person you needed to be in every moment, and you were never wrong about anything. Despite a few disagreements or arguments, you were always right. In the end, things always turned out just as you said they would.”
Messi closed his tribute by noting that Jorge’s legacy will 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 raising my children, because I teach and raise them just as you both did with me. Rest in peace, and watch over us from above just as you did here. Thank you for everything. I love you, Dad.”
Tributes have poured in from across the global football community in the wake of Jorge’s passing. Portugal icon and long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo offered his support, writing: “A huge hug to you and yours in these hard times, Leo. Much strength.” Inter Miami co-owner and former England international David Beckham also shared a message of solidarity, saying: “We are with you and your family, Leo, always.”
Additional updates on the situation are expected to follow in the coming days.