Argentine football tribute to Messi in all stadiums

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) will honor Lionel Messi with a minute of applause in all the stadiums in the country where official competitions are taking place this weekend. The decision comes after Leo announced this Monday, at the age of 39, his retirement from the national team.

““It is established that on the next date of all categories of all men’s and women’s disciplines (Eleven, Futsal and Beach Soccer) the match will be stopped ten minutes into the first half of play and a minute of applause will be given in recognition of Lionel Messi’s career with the Argentine team.”the AFA expressed this Wednesday in an information bulletin.

The statement added that “in those stadiums that have screens, they must, prior to the start of matches, broadcast the institutional video of the Association”, in reference to the audiovisual material published through the AFA networks in tribute to the player after learning of his decision.

In the video, almost two minutes long, images of the various stages of Messi’s career with the light blue and white kit appear, along with a farewell message: “Thank you for uniting an entire country behind this shield. We will miss you.”

Messi, until now captain and number 10 of the Albiceleste, announced this Monday his retirement from the national team in an emotional handwritten letter in which he stated: “I’ve emptied myself, I have no more to give and there are very big guys coming back who deserve to be there.”

The forward played 207 games for the Argentine team, in which he scored 125 goals and gave 68 assists between 2005 and the recent 2026 World Cup final, in which his team lost 1-0 to Spain.

Messi was champion of the 2022 World Cup, the 2021 and 2024 Copa América and the 2022 Finalissima, titles that are added to the 2005 U-20 World Youth Championship and the gold medal with the U-23 team at the 2008 Olympic Games.