Lionel Messi revealed the decision on the future of Argentina after the Copa America

Lionel Messi has revealed that he has no plans to quit international football with Argentina after the Copa America final this weekend.

Messi helped Argentina reach the final of another major tournament, scoring a killer second goal in the semi-final against Canada. It will be a career-high seventh international final, having won each of the last two in 2021 and 2022.

But while the world speculates on whether Cristiano Ronaldo, 39, will continue to play for Portugal following Euro 2024, 37-year-old Messi insists he won’t stop just yet.

“As I have said before, I am determined to continue,” said the player who has won the Ballon d’Or award eight times. “I intend to continue living day by day without thinking about what will happen in the future or whether I will continue or not. It is something I just live day by day. I am 37 years old and only God knows when the end will be.”

Messi won Olympic gold with Argentina in 2008 but endured disappointment after disappointment when it came to the senior team. At the age of 20, he was part of the team that lost the 2007 Copa America final against fierce rivals Brazil. In 2014, Argentina lost the World Cup final against Germany, and in 2015 they lost to Chile in the 2015 and 2016 Copa Americas.

After a difficult World Cup in 2018 ended in a snowball first round, and Ronaldo finally got his hands on international silverware in 2016 at the European Championship, questions were being asked whether Messi would ever get that trophy with his country.

That finally changed three years ago when Argentina reached the Copa America final again, but this time they won with a single goal from Angel Di Maria. A year later, it was the World Cup in Qatar, where Messi received the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament.

Argentina will face either Colombia or Uruguay in the final. Whatever happens, it will be Di Maria’s last game in blue and white – the 36-year-old has announced his intention to retire from the national team after 16 years and nearly 150 caps.

“I’m not ready for my last game in the national team, but it’s time. Whatever happens in the final, I think I can go out the front door. I gave it my all,” explained Di Maria.

“I always sacrifice my life for this shirt. There were times when I didn’t make it, but recently I made it. I thank everyone who supported me.”

Di Maria has played in four of Argentina’s five games so far and is tipped to return to South America after the tournament, to join boyhood club Rosario Central. He first moved to Portugal in 2007 at the age of 19 and after only 39 first-team appearances.

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