Argentine professional footballer and Inter Miami striker Lionel Messi is set to play his final international for Argentina, but FIFA regulations have blocked Argentina’s plan to retire Messi’s iconic No. 10 shirt.
The Argentine Football Association reportedly wanted to permanently retire the number following Messi’s retirement from international football.
New Telegraph recalls that Messi announced on August 31 that he would retire from international football after more than two decades with Argentina.
Messi, 39, lines up for his 208th and last cap against Benin on Tuesday at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires. It is a historic career, one that saw him lead Argentina to glory at the 2022 World Cup and to two Copa América titles.
Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association, wanted to retire the number 10 as a tribute to Messi, keeping it off the backs of future players once he steps away from international football, according to French website “Foot Mercato”.
However, that wish runs straight into FIFA’s regulations. Teams at major tournaments must assign numbers 1 to 26 to their players, which makes it impossible to leave the number 10 off the list at the World Cup or the Copa América.
Liberia encountered a similar issue after retiring the No. 14 shirt in honour of former striker and president George Weah.
Argentina can leave the shirt vacant in some friendlies. In official international tournaments, though, they’ll have to hand it to one of their players, according to Foot Mercato.
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has yet to decide who will inherit Messi’s number.
“We are not obliged to assign it for the upcoming matches, so we will give it to no one until after Leo’s farewell match. We just have not yet decided who.”
