At 13, Lionel Messi was signed by Barcelona on a napkin. At 29, years of criticism made him quit football. But he came back to gift Argentina the FIFA World Cup after 36 years

For more than two decades, Lionel Messi was at the centre of some of football’s biggest moments, first becoming a global star with Barcelona and later spending years trying to win over a demanding Argentina public. Now, his international career has finally come to an end. Messi has retired from Argentina after a journey that included painful defeats, intense criticism, a retirement at 29, a comeback and, finally, the FIFA World Cup he had spent years chasing.

The ending is very different from the one Messi imagined in 2016. Back then, another lost final had convinced him that he could no longer continue. Ten years later, he leaves after winning the Copa America and World Cup with Argentina and establishing himself as one of the country's greatest-ever players.

It started with a napkin in Barcelona

Long before Messi was carrying Argentina's hopes, his own future in football was uncertain.


In 2000, the 13-year-old left Rosario and travelled to Spain for a trial with Barcelona. His talent was obvious, but there were concerns about his age, small frame and the treatment he needed for growth hormone deficiency.

Some people at Barcelona were not convinced. Carles Rexach, the club's director of football at the time, eventually decided that the club could not afford to let the youngster slip away.

Negotiations with Messi's family had dragged on. During a meeting at the Pompeia tennis club, Rexach took a napkin and wrote an agreement to sign him.

The note read: “In Barcelona, on 14 December 2000 and the presence of Messrs Minguella and Horacio (Gaggioli), Carles Rexach, Director of Football of F.C.B., hereby agrees, under his responsibility and regardless of any dissenting opinions, to sign the player Lionel Messi, provided that we keep to the amounts agreed upon.”

According to FIFA, Horacio Gaggioli, who was involved in Messi's move to Spain, had initially thought the boy was too small to play football when he first saw him at the airport. His doubts disappeared after seeing Messi with a ball.

The teenager eventually joined La Masia and made his professional debut in 2004. What followed at Barcelona turned the boy from Rosario into a global football icon.

Argentina was where the criticism hurt

Messi's club success did not immediately translate to Argentina.

He made his senior debut in 2005 and reached the 2014 World Cup final, where Argentina lost 1-0 to Germany. The next two Copa America finals also ended in defeat against Chile.

The second loss broke him.

At 29, after Argentina lost the 2016 Copa America final on penalties, Messi announced his retirement from international football. He had missed his penalty in the shootout and had now lost four major finals with his country.

“For me, the national team is over. I've done all I can. It hurts not to be a champion. It's been four finals, I tried. It was the thing I wanted the most, but I couldn't get it, so I think it's over,” Messi said after the defeat, according to the BBC.

The reaction showed how much Argentina wanted him to succeed, but it also reflected the criticism he had faced for years. Messi was a superstar at Barcelona, yet his inability to win a major senior trophy with Argentina remained a constant subject of debate.

Messi changed his mind

His retirement lasted only weeks. In August 2016, Messi returned to the national team. According to the Guardian, he explained his decision by saying: “I love this country and this shirt too much.”

That comeback eventually changed the final chapter of his Argentina career. In 2021, Messi won his first major senior international trophy when Argentina lifted the Copa America. A year later came the trophy that had followed him throughout his career.

At the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Messi captained Argentina to the title. He scored seven goals and won the Golden Ball as Argentina ended a 36-year wait for the World Cup.

The player once criticised for failing to deliver for Argentina had finally done it.

Messi's final goodbye to Argentina

Messi's latest decision comes after another World Cup final, but this time the circumstances are completely different.

Argentina lost 1-0 to Spain in the 2026 final, and Messi later revealed that he had decided to retire two days after the defeat.

“It was a decision that hurt – and still hurts deep down – but I understand that the time has come,” Messi said in his farewell message.

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He added: “I’ve given everything I had; I have nothing left to give, and besides, there are some great young players coming up who deserve to be here.”

That is what makes Messi's Argentina story so unusual.

At 29, he walked away because the defeats had become too painful. He returned because he could not stay away from his country and its shirt. Six years later, he finally gave Argentina the World Cup after 36 years.

Now, after more than two decades with the national team, Messi is leaving on his own terms. The journey that began with a teenager whose Barcelona future was scribbled onto a napkin has finally reached its last page.