His wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, was among the first to show her support, sharing a heartfelt message on Instagram in which she expressed her pride in the way he chose to bring his international career to a close.
“How proud I am to see you end this chapter in this way, Messi,” she wrote.
She continued: “It was a long journey filled with countless moments of joy, as well as heartbreak and hardship. I watched you suffer, fall and rise again. I saw you keep going when things did not turn out the way you wanted and always find the strength to try again.”
Antonela concluded: “I was fortunate to watch you achieve your dreams and experience some of the happiest moments of our lives. What moves me most is that our children grew up witnessing it all firsthand. They watched their father fight for what he wanted, refuse to give up and continue believing until the very end. Then, they were there to see you achieve everything and lift the World Cup.”
Messi’s mother, Celia, also revealed how deeply his decision affected the family, despite knowing that the day would eventually come.
“I am still crying. We knew this would happen, but the entire family is deeply saddened. The most important thing for us is that he is happy,” she said.
She also remembered her late husband, Jorge Messi, who died in August 2026, explaining that he often wondered what life would be like once his son stopped playing football.
“He would always ask him: ‘What am I going to do when you no longer play football?’ Everything happened at once. It is unbelievable,” she added emotionally.
Messi, the captain of Inter Miami, announced his international retirement after a career spanning more than two decades.
“After a long time since the World Cup final, and after much thought, I have decided to retire from international football with Argentina,” he wrote in a statement shared on his official social media accounts.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner added: “It is a painful decision, and it still hurts deeply, but it comes at the right time.”
Messi ends an extraordinary chapter after leading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup, the Copa América titles in 2021 and 2024, and the 2022 Finalissima.