Messi Shares Heartfelt Message to Late Father on Social Media
Lionel Messi took to social media on Wednesday to express his emotions following the passing of his father, Jorge Messi. Jorge, who passed away in Rosario, Argentina, at the age of 68 on August 8, had been battling an undisclosed illness that intensified shortly before the start of the 2026 World Cup.
In a poignant letter, Messi reflected on the profound impact his father had on his life, admitting he struggles to envision his future without him. “I don’t know how to carry on,” Messi wrote, as translated by The Athletic. “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.”
Messi recalled the guiding role his father played throughout his career and questioned why he couldn’t hold on just a little longer to witness the culmination of his efforts. “You were by my side from the start; we were so close to the end [of my career]. Why didn’t you hang on just that little bit longer so we could finish it together?”
At 39, Messi recently completed an impressive World Cup run, leading Argentina to the finals before falling to Spain in a closely contested match that required extra time. He was also narrowly denied the World Cup Golden Boot by France’s Kylian Mbappé, who excelled in a third-place match against England.
Despite the recent heartache, Messi remains the second all-time leading scorer in World Cup history with 21 goals and holds a beloved place in Argentina’s sports legacy after securing a World Cup title in 2022.
Messi has been making waves in MLS with Inter Miami since 2023, leading them to an MLS Cup victory and earning the title of MVP. He returned to league play on August 1 after opting out of the MLS All-Star game, and after the painful loss to Spain, he acknowledged the difficulty of moving on.
“It will take time for this wound to heal,” he mentioned in a previous statement. Yet, he also emphasized the joy he and his teammates experienced during their journey toward defending their title.
In his latest message, Messi recollected how his father had urged him to participate in this year’s World Cup. He expressed the heartache of not being able to share the experience with his dad: “I’d tell you that we’d make it to the final so you could travel.”
“Every time a match ended, I’d wait for your message and miss it. That’s when I realized the situation was really bad. Even so, I couldn’t stop thinking about getting as far as possible, to give you time to watch a match. We reached the final and you couldn’t be there. I wanted to win it so I could take it to you and show you another trophy. I couldn’t do it; my legs wouldn’t carry me any further. This time I tried to go against my physical limits, but I couldn’t. I never managed to feel right.
“When I got back, you thought we’d lost the final on penalties. We couldn’t talk about any of what had happened. You couldn’t enjoy any of it. We didn’t win the title, but you have no idea how much we enjoyed every match. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and play.”
Messi concluded his heartfelt message by expressing how deeply he misses his father, yet he vows to carry his legacy forward while raising his own children, just as Jorge raised him. “Rest in peace and look after us from up there, just as you did here. Thank you for everything. I love you, dad.”
Lionel Messi posted an emotional message to social media on Wednesday. It’s addressed to his late father, Jorge, who died in Rosario, Argentina, at 68 years old on Aug. 8 following a long battle with an undisclosed illness that, according to Messi, “took a turn for the worse” right before the start of the 2026 World Cup.
In Messi’s candid commemorative letter, he understandably admitted that he doesn’t know what he’s going to do without his father.
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“I don’t know how to carry on,” Messi wrote, as translated by The Athletic. “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 [of my career]. Why didn’t you hang on just that little bit longer so we could finish it together?”
Messi, 39, is coming off an illustrious World Cup, in which he seemingly turned back the clock and nearly led Argentina to a second consecutive title in the storied tournament.
He fell just shy of that feat, as Argentina lost to Spain 1-0 in a final that needed extra time, and he also came up short of his first World Cup Golden Boot, which France’s Kylian Mbappé secured in a third-place match against England.
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Still, Messi is second all time in World Cup goals (21), and he’s immortalized in his country’s history after leading Argentina to a World Cup title in 2022 and serving as a beacon in the sport who’s inspired generations of players and fans.
Arguably the greatest to ever play, Messi has crafted a decorated résumé that features an iconic run for FC Barcelona. He’s been playing for MLS’ Inter Miami since 2023. He piloted the club to an MLS Cup victory last year while earning MLS Cup MVP.
Messi returned to MLS action on Aug. 1 after he had opted to skip to skip the MLS All-Star game. Following the devastating defeat to Spain on July 19, he expressed the pain he was feeling.
“It will take time for this wound to heal,” he wrote at the time. But in that statement, as well as the message he posted on Wednesday, he emphasized the joy he and his teammates experienced along the way as they tried to repeat as World Cup champions.
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In Wednesday’s dispatch, Messi noted how his father asked him to play in this year’s World Cup.
“I’d tell you that we’d make it to the final so you could travel,” he said.
“Every time a match ended, I’d wait for your message and miss it. That’s when I realized the situation was really bad. Even so, I couldn’t stop thinking about getting as far as possible, to give you time to watch a match. We reached the final and you couldn’t be there. I wanted to win it so I could take it to you and show you another trophy. I couldn’t do it, my legs wouldn’t carry me any further. This time I tried to go against my physical limits, but I couldn’t. I never managed to feel right.
“When I got back, you thought we’d lost the final on penalties. We couldn’t talk about any of what had happened. You couldn’t enjoy any of it. We didn’t win the title, but you have no idea how much we enjoyed every match. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and play.”
Here’s Messi’s full message, translated via The Athletic:
“Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone. I can’t get my head round it — or rather, I don’t want to. It’s so hard for me to imagine that I won’t see you ever again, that we won’t talk anymore. I know you were suffering and that this is for the best, but you left us far too soon. We still had so much left to enjoy together.
“You kept asking me to play in the last World Cup, and it was just days before it started that you took a turn for the worse. It was the first time you weren’t going to be at a tournament, but Mum kept telling me you’d get better and that you’d be well enough to travel. I’d tell you that we’d make it to the final so you could travel.
“Every time a match ended, I’d wait for your message and miss it. That’s when I realized the situation was really bad. Even so, I couldn’t stop thinking about getting as far as possible, to give you time to watch a match. We reached the final and you couldn’t be there. I wanted to win it so I could take it to you and show you another trophy. I couldn’t do it, my legs wouldn’t carry me any further. This time I tried to go against my physical limits, but I couldn’t. I never managed to feel right.
“When I got back, you thought we’d lost the final on penalties. We couldn’t talk about any of what had happened. You couldn’t enjoy any of it. We didn’t win the title, but you have no idea how much we enjoyed every match. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and play.
“I’m telling you this because it was the only thing we couldn’t talk about, because you already know all the rest. We spoke every day and saw each other whenever we could, depending on my commitments.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, I don’t know how to carry on. 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 [of my career]. Why didn’t you hang on just that little bit longer so we could finish it together?
“I know that your happiness came from seeing your family doing well — your wife and your children, and above all, without the others finding out, watching me play… 😉
“Ever since I was a little boy, it was always like that. You’d take me to every training session as soon as you got home from work. Mum used to take me to a lot of them because you were working.
“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.
“You were a dad, a friend and a representative. You were always the person you needed to be at every moment, and you never got anything wrong. Despite the odd reproach or argument, you were always right. In the end, things always turned out as you said they would.
“I’m going to miss you so much, but you’ll always be present, and above all in bringing up my children, because I’m teaching and raising them as you both did with me.
“Rest in peace and look after us from up there, just as you did here. Thank you for everything.
“I love you, dad.”
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