Argentina will retire the iconic number 10 jersey worn by Lionel Messi when the World Cup champion and record eight Ballon d’Or winner retires.
According to Argentina Football Federation president Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia, “When Messi retires from the national team, we will not allow anyone else to wear the number 10 after him. This number ’10’ will be retired for life in his honor. It’s the least we can do for him.”
This is not the first time the Argentine governing body has attempted to retire the iconic No. 10 jersey, which was also worn by the legendary Diego Maradona.
Before the 2002 World Cup, Julio Grondona, the president of the AFA at the time, and some authorities wanted to retire the jersey, but that did not happen owing to a
FIFA rule that stipulated that teams should utilize numbers ranging from 1 to 23 in the tournament.
Ariel Ortega eventually wore the legendary shirt for the Marcelo Bielsa-coached Korea-Japan World Cup team.
Meanwhile, Messi has 106 goals in 180 games for Argentina, and his trophy cabinet includes the
Copa America in 2021 and the
World Cup in 2022.
With Messi’s future uncertain by the time the World Cup begins in 2026, he’ll be attempting to win a second Copa America with Argentina in 2024.
