Lionel Messi has spoken publicly for the first time since his father Jorge's death, publishing a letter that sheds light on how much the 2026 World Cup campaign meant to him and how losing his father at age 68 will affect him going forward.
Messi's clubs announced the death of his father, who was suffering from an illness during the 2026 World Cup, on Saturday, Aug. 8.
After Argentina's 1-0 extra-time loss to Spain in the World Cup final, Messi flew to Rosario to see his father. The player's hope, he said in the letter, was for his father to recover and be able to travel for the final of the World Cup he had pushed his son to play in. Instead, his health had deteriorated to a point in which he was unable to recall details of the match.
"When I
got there, you thought we’d lost the final on penalties. We couldn’t talk at all about everything that happened. You couldn’t enjoy anything," Leo Messi wrote. "We weren’t champions, but you don’t know how we enjoyed every game. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and play it."
Leo Messi also shared that his father's death has made him consider how much longer he will continue to play professional soccer, as he wrestled with the idea of playing without his dad watching on as he had done since those first matches in Rosario.
"I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, I don’t know how to go on. I only played soccer, and now I have a lot of doubts about if I might keep doing it for much more time," he wrote. "You were at my side from the start, there was so little time for the end. Why couldn’t you have held out that little more time and we could’ve finished together?"
The star's contract with Inter Miami runs through the end of 2028, though many MLS teams are restructuring deals as the league prepares to change its calendar to one that runs from the summer through the spring.
For now, the focus for Leo Messi is clearly on grieving and on his own family, who he said he hopes to bring up in the same way his father raised him.
"You were father, friend and agent. You always were the person you had to be in each moment and you never made any mistake. Beyond a few scoldings or fights, you were always right. In the end, it ended up going like you said," Leo Messi wrote. "I’m going to miss you a lot, but you always will be present, above all in my sons’ education because I am teaching them and educating them like you guys did with me.
"Rest in peace and take care from us up there like you did here. Thanks for everything.
"I love you, pa."
What did Messi's letter to his father say in English?
"Pa, I still can’t believe you’ve gone. It hasn’t it me – or better said I don’t want it to hit me. It’s very difficult for me to imagine that I’m not going to see you again, that we aren’t going to talk more. I know you were suffering, and it’s for the best, but you went very soon. We still had a lot to enjoy together.
"You asked me so much to play my last World Cup, and days before it started was when you felt the worst. It was the first time you weren’t going to be at a tournament, but mom told me you were going to be better and you were going to be good to be able to travel. I told you we were going to get to the final to be able to travel.
"Every time I finished a game, I waited for and missed your message. That’s when I realized the situation was truly ugly. Even so, I didn’t let myself think about getting as far as possible, to give you time for you to be able to see a match. We got to the final and you couldn’t be there. I wanted to win it to take it to you and show you a new one. I couldn’t. The legs didn’t give me any more. This time, I tried to go against my body, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t feel good.
"When I got there, you thought we’d lost the final on penalties. We couldn’t talk at all about everything that happened. You couldn’t enjoy anything. We weren’t champions, but you don’t know how we enjoyed every game. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and play it.
"I tell you this because it was the only thing we couldn’t talk about, because you already know everything else. We spoke every day and saw each other when we could with my commitments.
"I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, I don’t know how to go on. I only played soccer and now I have a lot of doubts about if I might keep doing it for much more time. You were at my side from the start, there was so little time for the end. Why couldn’t you have held out that little more time and we could’ve finished together?
"I know your happiness came from seeing your family, your wife, your kids all good and above all, without letting the others know, seeing me play.
"It was like that since I was young. You took me to all the trainings when you were just getting back from work. My mom took me to a lot because you were working.
"Obviously you didn’t miss a match. How you suffered watching me and how you enjoyed it, although you never lavished too much praise on me.
"You were father, friend and agent. You always were the person you had to be in each moment and you never made any mistake. Beyond a few scoldings or fights, you were always right. In the end, it ended up going like you said.
"I’m going to miss you a lot, but you always will be present, above all in my sons’ education because I am teaching them and educating them like you guys did with me.
"Rest in peace and take care from us up there like you did here. Thanks for everything.
"I love you, pa."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'I don't know how to go on'': Messi posts emotional letter after father's death
