The Argentine Football Association reportedly wanted to retire the number in honour of Messi, who announced his decision to end his international career on August 31 after more than two decades with the national team.
Messi is expected to make his farewell appearance before Argentine supporters on October 6, when Argentina face Benin in a friendly at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
The 39-year-old has made 207 appearances for Argentina and scored 125 goals, wearing the No. 10 shirt throughout much of his international career.
However, FIFA regulations require teams competing in international final tournaments to use squad numbers from 1 to 26, meaning Argentina cannot permanently retire the No. 10 shirt.
Liberia faced a similar situation after retiring the No. 14 shirt in honour of former striker and president George Weah. FIFA regulations later required the number to be used during the country’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has yet to decide who will inherit Messi’s number.
“We are not obliged to assign it for the upcoming matches, so we will give it to no one until after Leo’s farewell match. We just have not yet decided who,” Scaloni was quoted by ESPN as saying.
However, ESPN Argentina reporter Federico Bueno reported that Como midfielder Nico Paz is the leading candidate to take over the shirt if Scaloni extends his contract.
“If Scaloni extends his contract as Argentina head coach, then Nico Paz will be the new number 10. That has been decided internally,” Bueno said.
Paz, 22, previously played for Real Madrid before joining Italian side Como permanently for €60 million last summer. He has made 11 appearances for Argentina and scored once.
Post a Comment