Messi was back on the pitch 13 days after the final — and still hasn't decided his international future
At 39, La Pulga returned to MLS action less than two weeks after the final against Spain. A decision on his Argentina future has yet to be made.
Thirteen days. That was all the time Lionel Messi needed to return to a football pitch after playing in the World Cup final against Spain. It wasn't a decisive match — just a regular MLS fixture, the 18th round of the season, with nothing on the line. But Messi was there.
At 39 years old, with just three training sessions in his legs since the final, he took to the field for Inter Miami as if the weight of an entire World Cup hadn't come crashing down on his shoulders less than a fortnight earlier. It's hard not to be in awe of that.
What comes next, though, nobody knows — not even him. According to Olé, Messi has yet to make any decision about his future with the Argentine national team. Whether he'll carry on, whether he'll go to the Copa América, whether he's dreaming of the Monumental in 2030 — everything is up in the air. He took a week's holiday in Rosario to be close to his father and is now processing everything that happened.
What can't be ignored is what he delivered at this World Cup. Eight games, eight goals, four assists — and Argentina in the final, the third in six World Cups with him as captain. As Olé reported, the decision to take part in the tournament came late, when Messi felt he would be a solution for the team, not a burden.
Golmetria's model gave Argentina a 68% chance of reaching the final — and they did. Spain, the champions, had a 75% probability of lifting the trophy according to the model. The numbers were borne out on the pitch.
His contract with Inter Miami runs until the end of 2028. Plenty of time to keep playing football. But the national team? Only Messi has that answer — and he's not ready to give it yet.