Messi reflects after Argentina's World Cup final loss to Spain, takes time off

Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald on Jul 20, 2026

Published in Soccer

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MIAMI — Lionel Messi, who left the World Cup final in tears Sunday after Argentina’s 1-0 loss to Spain, posted his first comments about the loss in Spanish on his Instagram account on Monday.

Translation: “The pain is deep, and this wound will be difficult to heal. But I am also left with the good things…the matches we turned around by giving it our all, moments that will remain in our memories forever, and the support of an entire country, which combined with this group’s hard work and effort brought us back, once again, to be among the world’s best teams.

“It is hard to fully appreciate our achievement right now, but this group reached two consecutive World Cup finals.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and message. Once again, we managed to unite as a country and stand together, sharing the immense pride of being Argentine.

“I also want to congratulate Spain on winning the championship.”

Messi is taking an indefinite amount of time off to recover and decompress from the World Cup. He is not expected to return to the Inter Miami lineup right away and it is not known if he will even attend Wednesday’s home match against the Chicago Fire at Nu Stadium.

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