Argentina League to Stop Matches in 10th Minute for Messi Tribute

(Lionel Messi. Photo by BBC News)

Argentina's football league will pause all matches in the 10th minute this weekend to pay tribute to Lionel Messi after his retirement from international football.

The 39-year-old, who wore the number 10 shirt for Argentina, announced his retirement on Monday.

Messi's final match for his country was the 2026 World Cup final in July, where Argentina lost to Spain.

The eight-time winner of the world's top individual football award had captained Argentina to World Cup victory in Qatar in 2022.

During the 10th minute of all weekend matches, referees will stop play and everyone will observe a minute of applause to honour Messi's career with the national team.

Messi holds Argentina's record for international appearances with 207 caps.

He scored 125 goals for Argentina, a national record.

He first tried retiring from international football in 2016 after Argentina lost a Copa America final to Chile, in which he missed a penalty.

He reversed that decision and returned to play.

Messi made his Argentina debut in 2005 as a substitute in a friendly win over Hungary.

He played his entire professional club career outside his homeland, most famously for Barcelona, where he joined their youth academy as a 13-year-old.

In World Cup history, Messi ranks second with 21 goals, behind France's Kylian Mbappe who has 22.

In total international goals, Messi has 125, second only to Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo who has 146.

Messi's father, Jorge, died aged 68 following a long illness in August.

After his father's d£ath, Messi said he was even more convinced about retiring from international football.

He will continue playing professional football with Inter Miami in the American league, where his contract runs until the end of 2028.