Lionel Messi's Heartbreaking Tribute to Father Jorge

Lionel Messi has cast a shadow over the rest of his career after penning a raw, heartbreaking tribute to his late father Jorge, admitting he now has “quite a few doubts” about continuing in football.

The 39-year-old, who lost his father last week at the age of 68, poured his grief into a long open letter on Instagram, laying bare the scale of the void left by the man who shaped both his life and his career.

“I don't know what I'm going to do without you, I don't know how to go on,” Messi wrote. “I only played football and now I have quite a few doubts about whether I'll keep doing it for much longer. You were by my side from the beginning; there was so little left until the end. Why couldn't you hold on that little bit more so we could finish together?”

Those words jolted the football world. The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has spoken before about the end of his career, but never with this sense of emptiness, never with such a direct link between his love for the game and the presence of his father.

World Cup pain behind the smile

Messi also revealed the emotional and physical burden he carried through the recent World Cup, as Jorge’s health deteriorated back home. The tournament, which ended in a 1-0 defeat to Spain and the loss of Argentina’s 2022 crown, now reads very differently through his lens.

“You asked me so much to play in the last World Cup, and it was in the days just before it started that you got the worst,” he wrote. “It was the first time you weren't going to be at a tournament, but Mum told me that you were going to get better and that you'd be well enough to travel.

“I told you we were going to reach the final so you could travel. Every time a match ended, I waited for and missed your message. That's when I realised the situation was really bad.”

He kept going anyway. For him, for his father, for time.

“Even so, I didn't stop thinking about going as far as possible, to buy you time and so you could see a match. We reached the final and you couldn't be there. I wanted to win it to bring it to you and show you a new one. I couldn't: my legs wouldn't give any more. This time I tried to go against my body, but I couldn't. I never managed to feel good.”

It is a stark admission from a player who has built a career on transcending physical limits. On this stage, at this age, grief finally caught up with him.

“When I arrived, you thought we had lost the final on penalties. We couldn't talk about anything that happened. You couldn't enjoy anything. We weren't champions, but you have no idea how much we enjoyed every single match. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and play it.”

The architect of a legend

For Messi, Jorge was never simply a parent watching from the stands. He was the driving force behind a journey that reshaped modern football.

Jorge Messi negotiated the move that took a slight, hormone-deficient teenager from Rosario to Barcelona, persuading the Catalan club to fund the costly treatment that would allow his son to grow into the player he became. The first agreement, famously, was scribbled on a paper napkin.

Messi’s tribute underlined just how many roles his father played.

“For many of them Mum took me because you were working. Obviously you never missed a single match,” he recalled. “How you suffered watching me and how you enjoyed it, even though you never gave me many compliments. You were dad, friend and representative. You were always the person you needed to be in every moment and you never got anything wrong.

“Beyond a few reproaches or arguments, you were always right. In the end it always turned out the way you said.”

The message strips away the distance that usually exists between superstar and supporter. Behind the trophies and the records stands a father who worried, argued, pushed and protected.

Football world stands with Messi

The response to Messi’s post has been immediate and united. Rivals, teammates and icons of the game have lined up to offer their support.

Cristiano Ronaldo, his long-time on-pitch adversary, was among the first to comment. “A huge hug to you and yours in these tough times, Leo. Much strength,” he wrote, a simple message that cut through years of manufactured rivalry.

Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham also added his voice: “We stand with you and your family, Leo – always.”

The outpouring reflects not just respect for Messi the footballer, but empathy for a son mourning the man who walked every step of the journey with him.

A legacy carried forward

Messi closed his letter with a promise. The game may or may not continue for him at the highest level, but his father’s influence will live on in the next generation of the Messi family.

“I'm going to miss you a lot, but you'll always be present, and especially in the upbringing of my children, because I teach them and raise them the way you both did with me,” he wrote. “Rest in peace and look after us from above the way you did down here. Thank you for everything.”

His future on the pitch now hangs in the balance, clouded by loss and fatigue. The question is no longer how long Messi can keep playing.

It’s whether, without Jorge by his side, he still wants to.