Lionel Messi did not score in the final and took the Silver Ball as the tournament's second-best player 1. Asked before kickoff whether he could play on to a last dance in 2030, he smiled and said "no, no, eso si que no" 2. That rules out a seventh World Cup and nothing beyond it.
Messi wept on the pitch afterwards. "When I heard the Argentina fans chanting my name after the defeat, that was the moment that broke me," he said, adding that a medal can be silver but the memories are priceless 3. He had gone into the final weekend leading the tournament on assists , and the Silver Ball reflects a run that carried Argentina to a fifth consecutive final.
After the whistle the entire Argentina squad left without speaking to media, so nothing is on the record about Messi's international future in general. The Argentine journalist Gaston Edul said on air he would bet his hand that Sunday was not Messi's last match for the national team, and TyC Sports expects him to continue toward the next Copa America, South America's continental championship.
Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), posted "De pie, Argentina, con la cabeza en alto", standing tall, heads held high. The AFA statement said the result was not enough to make Argentina two-time champions and left it there 4.
