BUENOS AIRES — Lionel Messi is about to play his final match for Argentina, with his 208th appearance set to be an emotional farewell in a friendly against Benin at the Monumental in Buenos Aires. The country's most-capped player and record goalscorer announced his retirement from the national team on 31 August, six weeks after the World Cup final defeat by Spain, saying he had nothing more to give.
Coach Lionel Scaloni insists that if Messi ever wants to carry on, he can, and there is no embarrassment in changing his mind, but that chapter seems closed. His club career goes on, with his contract at Inter Miami running to the end of the 2028 season, reviewed year by year, and nobody close to him expects him to walk away a day before he has to. It is quite likely he will renew it if he feels, mentally and physically, up for it.
Asked recently whether he would rather be a coach or an owner, Messi chose owner. A coach lives and dies by every Saturday, while an owner shapes the direction of a club from a little further back — though he would want to be involved in everything, not just approving the appointment of a manager. The groundwork is already being laid in Spain. He bought UE Cornella, on the edge of Barcelona and in the fifth tier, in April, and CD Eldense, in the second division, announced Messi as its new owner on 1 October, subject to authorisation from the Spanish sports council, the CSD. Eldense will lead his football operation, with former Villarreal boss Javi Calleja appointed as the target this season is to avoid relegation. Messi follows every Eldense match closely on his computer and after their 4-1 win over Real Oviedo his first message as owner was an Instagram post that read "Aupa Deportivo". Around a dozen sponsors came forward within a couple of days.
In Uruguay, he and Luis Suarez founded Deportivo LSM in May 2025, and they won promotion to the country's third tier in its first season. A wider network of clubs was discussed at the start but the sums needed to lift them up the divisions have cooled that idea and it is not on the table today, with the focus now on whether Eldense can establish themselves in La Liga. As part of his Inter Miami contract he will have some shares in the club when he retires, though a franchise of his own is not part of the plan. A return to Newell's Old Boys in Rosario, where he played as a child, has never been formally discussed, and nobody close to the player expects it, with everything built around Europe and Miami and a family home waiting in Castelldefels, close to the sea and Barcelona.
If owning clubs is one love, youth football is the other. He puts his money and time into the Messi Cup, a tournament for Under-16 academies which began in 2025 with eight teams. Last year organisers expected him to attend one or two games, perhaps only the final, but he sat through every match on every day. This year the field has doubled to 16 teams, from 25 October at Inter Miami's facilities in Florida, including Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Arsenal and UE Cornella. Away from the pitch, Forbes put his net worth at about $1.1bn in June, with earnings of around $140m over the previous year split between football and business. His best known endorsement is the lifetime Adidas deal he signed in 2017, while his most visible asset is MiM Hotels, six boutique properties from Ibiza to Andorra run by Melia under a rental agreement since 1 November 2025. Other interests include the Carrasco M development of 24 homes by the Parana river in Rosario, the restaurant chain El Club de la Milanesa, and a mate collection with Stanley.