Messi international retirement: Inter Miami star makes England World Cup admission in emotional speech after Argentina farewell game

Lionel Messi admitted the semi-final win over England at the 2026 World Cup took a "huge toll" on the squad ahead of the final defeat to Spain.

Messi, who announced his international retirement in August, made his final Argentina appearance in an emotional evening at the Estadio Monumental on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old provided two assists before he scored from the penalty spot in the 3-0 victory over Benin, taking him to 126 goals and 67 assists in 208 international appearances.

Messi addressed the crowd after the match, delivering a near 10-minute farewell speech in which he expressed his "pride" of representing Argentina for 21 years on the international stage.

"Saddest day" - Messi makes international retirement admission

“It was a huge source of pride for me to defend this jersey for more than 20 years,” Messi told the 85,000 crowd in attendance.

"Even in the worst moments we went through and that I had, I never stopped fighting, never stopped being here.

“Not coming any more is going to be deeply painful. I swear I’d like to play for the rest of my life, because playing for the Argentina national team is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you.”

Messi also told the crowd how tough it is to walk away from the national team despite achieving everything there is to achieve in international football.

“Now I’m here on the saddest day of my career, which is the day I have to say goodbye to the national team, goodbye to all of you," Messi said.

"But now I’ll be on that side [with the fans], supporting all the boys, everyone who comes in. Always united.”

Messi reveals toll of England World semi-final win

Messi also offered an explanation for Argentina's underwhelming performance in the 1-0 defeat to Spain in the World Cup final, revealing the dramatic semi-final win over England took a "huge toll" on the squad.

"Even though I want to be here all my life, I feel that this is the moment. The last World Cup was too much, everything I had to live through," Messi added.

"We had the dream of fulfilling my dream and the dream of the whole country, of becoming world champions again.

"In the last World Cup we were very close, and the reality is that nothing strange happened, as people say.

"The match against England took a huge toll on us physically. Emotionally, it was very big.

"We arrived with just enough, we fought like we always did with this jersey, with all the teammates I got to be with and share things with, not only them but also those who were around in the time when we managed to win. We were very close."

Having bid farewell to his national side, Messi will return to the United States to continue his club career with Inter Miami, who are in action this weekend against DC United.