Messi could not hold back his words after the defeat in the final of the 2026 World Cup

Lionel Messi broke down in tears and his future in the Argentina shirt was clouded after the captain failed to produce another piece of magic to save his side from defeat to Spain in Sunday's World Cup final at the MetLife Stadium. Ferran Torres scored the decisive blow in the 37th second of the second overtime. The goal and their second ever World Cup title while ending Messi and Argentina's hopes of becoming the first team since Brazil (1962) to win two World Cups in a row. "I hope that everyone will be proud of him, of what he has achieved, because he is the best football player who has ever been on the field," said Lionel Scaloni, the head coach of the Argentina national team, after the match. For now, the main intrigue remains whether this match was Messi's last for the national team. The 39-year-old previously said the 2022 World Cup would be his final, but last month he made history as the first footballer to play in six World Cups. Scaloni noted that he had not yet spoken to the captain about his plans. Messi himself, like the rest of the team, left the stadium without stopping to talk to the press. The vast majority of the more than 80,000 spectators in the stands were fervently supporting the Argentinians, hoping to see their idol crowned again. Instead, Messi stood with tears in his eyes as his team-mates thanked the fans as the Spanish stars lifted the trophy. Furia Roha's victory was absolutely deserved. The Spaniards dominated both in the final and throughout the tournament. In the decider, they outshot Argentina (20 to 2) and passed (845 to 433). "When you have Messi on the other wing, you get nervous, but in the end we always relied on ourselves. We play our football and we showed it again," admitted the winner Ferran Torres. Head coach Luis de la Fuente explained his tactics: "The first idea was to keep Messi at a distance." It worked perfectly, with the Argentine making just 15 touches of the ball in the first half and 54 throughout the game. He never found himself in a good position to shoot, and his trademark split passes were blocked by the opponent. When Messi left European football for MLS three years ago, many saw it as the beginning of the end of his career. Instead, he had a phenomenal tournament, leading Argentina to the final. At this year's World Cup, Lionel scored 8 goals and 4 assists. Also has 21 goals in World Cups in total (this record was short-lived - France's Kylian Mbappe broke it on Saturday, scoring his 22nd goal). Messi is the first player in history to start the World Cup finals. 125 goals for the national team is the second most in the history of international football after Cristiano Ronaldo (146). It is symbolic that the defeat took place at the MetLife Stadium, the arena where in 2016 Messi had already announced the end of his career in the national team after losing the Copa América final. Then he changed his mind 47 days later. Time will tell if the football world will see another return of the legend. We will remind, earlier Scaloni with tears in his eyes hinted at his departure from the Argentina national team.