{"id":41758,"date":"2026-08-12T22:32:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T17:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41758"},"modified":"2026-08-12T22:32:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T17:32:38","slug":"lionel-messis-soccer-future-hangs-in-balance-amid-personal-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41758","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi&#8217;s Soccer Future Hangs in Balance Amid Personal Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.realitytea.com\/tag\/lionel-messi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Lionel Messi<\/strong><\/a> is mourning the loss of his father, <strong>Jorge Messi<\/strong>. He says the heartbreaking tragedy has left him questioning whether he wants to continue playing soccer. In an emotional social media tribute, the <strong>Argentina team<\/strong> captain reflected on their lifelong bond. He admitted he no longer knows how to move forward without the man who guided both his life and career.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-lionel-messi-opens-up-about-losing-father-jorge-messi-and-facing-life-without-him\">Lionel Messi opens up about losing father Jorge Messi and facing life without him<\/h2>\n<p>Messi shared the heartfelt message days after Jorge Messi died at age 68 following an illness. Along with being his father, Jorge also served as his longtime agent and played a key role in shaping one of the greatest careers in soccer history.<\/p>\n<p>In the emotional post, Messi admitted he is still struggling to accept the loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\"\/>\n<p>He wrote, \u201cDad, I still can\u2019t believe you\u2019re gone,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t sunk in\u2014or rather, I don\u2019t want it to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Inter Miami star also revealed that his father encouraged him to play in the recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realitytea.com\/tag\/2026-fifa-world-cup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FIFA World Cup<\/a> despite his declining health. However, Jorge\u2019s condition worsened shortly before the tournament began.<\/p>\n<p>Messi said he kept pushing Argentina through the competition in the hope that his father would recover enough to watch him play one last time. \u201cI wanted to win it so I could bring it to you and show you a new trophy,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI couldn\u2019t do it; my legs just gave out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The eight-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner also made a startling admission about his future in the sport. \u201cI don\u2019t know what I\u2019ll do without you; I don\u2019t know how to go on,\u201d Messi wrote. \u201cAll I ever did was play soccer, and now I have serious doubts about whether I\u2019ll keep doing it much longer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also thanked his father for every sacrifice he made throughout his childhood. He recalled how Jorge attended practices, never missed games and always knew the right advice to give. \u201cYou were a father, a friend, and an agent,\u201d Messi wrote. \u201cYou were always exactly who you needed to be in any given moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jorge\u2019s death came after recent health concerns that the Messi family publicly acknowledged during the World Cup. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/08\/08\/jorge-messi-dead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TMZ<\/a> previously reported that he died Friday at a clinic in Rosario, Argentina.<\/p>\n<p>Messi concluded his tribute by promising to honor his father\u2019s legacy through the way he raises his own children. \u201cI\u2019m going to miss you terribly,\u201d he wrote. \u201cRest in peace, and watch over us from above. Thank you for everything. I love you, Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>TELL US:<\/strong> <strong>DO YOU THINK LIONEL MESSI WILL CONTINUE PLAYING AFTER THIS SEASON?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lionel Messi is mourning the loss of his father, Jorge Messi. He says the heartbreaking tragedy has left him questioning whether he wants to continue playing soccer. In an emotional social media tribute, the Argentina team captain reflected on their lifelong bond. He admitted he no longer knows how to move forward without the man&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.realitytea.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/08\/messi.png?resize=1200,630","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}