Published Sep 04, 2026 | 9:30 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 04, 2026 | 9:30 AM
Messi announced his retirement from international football on 31 August.
Synopsis: Lionel Messi’s retirement from international football has left Keralam’s Argentina fans with a mix of heartbreak, gratitude and memories of an unforgettable era. As fans pay tribute to the Argentine great, a new debate has already begun — who will inherit the iconic No. 10 shirt Messi made his own?
Keralam’s Argentina supporters have been caught between emotion and argument since 31 August.
The emotion came first.
In Kerala, Argentina is not merely a football team; it is an inheritance passed down through generations of fans. And at the very heart of that inheritance stands one name above all others: Lionel Messi, the Messiah.
For a generation of football fans in Keralam, Messi was never merely a name on an Argentina team sheet. He was a familiar presence in childhoods, school days, late-night matches, heartbreaks, celebrations and countless conversations about football.
Lionel Messi. Credit: x.com/leomessisite
So when Messi announced his retirement from international football on 31 August, the reaction in Keralam was less about the end of a sporting career and more about the closing of a deeply personal chapter.
Social media pages were flooded with old photographs, World Cup memories, videos of Messi in tears and, inevitably, the image that finally changed everything: Messi lifting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
But soon, the lament gave way to a question that has sparked an entirely different kind of conversation.
Who will don Argentina’s No. 10 jersey after Messi?
Twenty-one years, 207 matches and 125 goals after his Argentina debut, Messi has brought down the curtain on an extraordinary international career. He played in six World Cups, finally won the title in Qatar in 2022 and led Argentina to the 2026 World Cup final, where the defending champions lost to Spain. Along the way came three major titles — the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa América.
For Keralam’s Messi faithful, the numbers tell one part of the story. They remember something else — the man behind those numbers.
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For Christo, an ardent Messi follower, the images that remain most powerful are not necessarily those of Messi holding trophies.
Lionel Messi
He remembers the broken Messi after the 2014 World Cup final. The tears following the Copa América defeats. The 2016 announcement that he was walking away from Argentina after repeated disappointments.
And then, the return.
“People remember the moments when Messi lifted the trophies,” Christo said. “But I remember Messi who was broken on the field after the 2014 World Cup final.”
For him, that is precisely what makes the later triumphs so special.
He added that Messi did not simply receive a fairytale ending. He went through years of criticism and disappointment before finally getting the trophies that Argentina and its supporters had been waiting for.
The 2021 Copa América ended one long wait. Qatar 2022 brought the prize that had seemed to elude him throughout his career. The 2024 Copa América followed.
That journey from tears to trophies is what many fans in Kerala feel they witnessed alongside Messi.
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Shaji Paranilam, an ardent football follower, described the moment as “the end of an era.”
Messi announcing his retirement on 31 August
Messi, he said, was not merely a player in the Argentina shirt but “the dream of a generation”.
For Shaji, the shirt may eventually be passed on, but the significance of the No. 10 will not disappear.
“Even if you take off the Argentina shirt, your number 10 will never be erased from the hearts of the world,” he said.
That sentiment perhaps explains why the question of Messi’s successor has become almost inseparable from the emotions surrounding his retirement.
Messi’s No. 10 is now the most talked-about shirt in Argentine football.
It is not simply a squad number. It carries the history of Diego Maradona before Messi, and for almost two decades Messi himself made it synonymous with Argentina’s attacking football.
Now, with Messi gone, attention has naturally turned towards the next generation.
Among the names being discussed are Nicolás Paz, Thiago Almada, Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez.
A poster circulating among Argentina fans in Keralam
Argentine reports have identified them as possible contenders, although coach Lionel Scaloni has not formally announced who will inherit the jersey.
In Keralam, however, one name has already begun appearing prominently in the discussion — Nico Paz.
Sumit Jose, an ardent football fan, felt Argentina had hoped Messi would continue until the Copa América. His retirement means the team must now begin thinking seriously about life without several of its senior figures.
“Nico Paz will now wear the number 10 shirt,” Sumit observed in a social media post, pointing to the young midfielder’s ability to create and make plays. He also expressed belief that once Franco Mastantuono or other emerging youngsters gain experience, some of Argentina’s problems in the post-Messi era will ease.
Whether Paz ultimately receives the shirt remains to be seen. But the discussion itself shows how enormous the shadow of Messi’s No. 10 remains.
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Anuroop Mohanan sees the retirement through the eyes of someone who grew up watching Messi.
Every touch, dribble and goal became part of his childhood, youth and countless sleepless nights spent in front of television screens.
The question that once followed the slight, unassuming youngster — could this little man achieve such big dreams?— was answered, he said, not through words but on the football field.
“Some will play football. Some will make history. But some will turn football itself into an emotion,” Anuroop said in a social media post.
That, perhaps, explains why the retirement announcement has hit Keralam’s Argentina supporters particularly hard.
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The 214,000-plus-follower social media community Messi Fans Kerala summed up the mood in a tribute to the Argentine captain.
A huge cutout of Messi erected in a river in Kozhikode, Kerala, during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
For the group, Messi wearing Argentina’s No. 10 was never simply about football. It represented an emotion shared by millions.
They recalled the years in which Messi carried Argentina’s hopes, endured failures and tears, and eventually lifted the Copa América and World Cup.
The group’s tribute ended on a note that perhaps captures the mood across Keralam: gratitude for the happiness and magical moments Messi gave supporters in the blue-and-white shirt.
The magician has left the Argentina stage.
The No. 10 shirt will find a new player.
But in Keralam’s football conversations, the debate has only just begun.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
