Messi says World Cup final defeat will take time to heal

Lionel Messi said the pain of Argentina’s World Cup final defeat to Spain was “immense” and admitted it would take time for the team to come to terms with missing out on back-to-back titles.

Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 after extra time in Sunday’s final in New Jersey, with Ferran Torres scoring the decisive goal to deny the defending champions a second successive World Cup crown.

“The pain is immense, and this wound will take time to heal. But I also hold on to all the good things,” Messi wrote in a post on social media.

“The matches we turned around by giving it our all — moments that will remain in our memories forever — and the support of an entire country which, combined with this group’s hard work and effort, brought us back among the world’s elite once again.”

Argentina eased through the group stage before surviving a series of tight knockout matches, relying on late goals in each of their four victories to reach the final.

Messi, 39, finished the tournament with eight goals and four assists and was widely regarded as one of the standout performers, despite missing out on the Golden Ball award for the competition’s best player. While he has not announced his retirement, the Argentine captain is not expected to feature at the 2030 World Cup.

Reflecting on the campaign, Messi praised his teammates for reaching a second consecutive World Cup final.

“It is hard to fully appreciate our achievement right now, but this group reached two consecutive World Cup finals,” he said.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and message. Once again, we managed to unite as a country and stand together, sharing the immense pride of being Argentine. I also want to congratulate Spain on winning the championship.”