Look, we all know the deal. Every time the calendar flips, every time a new tournament cycle starts, it’s the same noise: “Will Messi play in 2026?” Half the internet screams yes, the other half swears he’s already booked a permanent vacation. It’s a total mess, and honestly, it gets under my skin. I decided I wasn’t just going to read another recycled article; I was going to find the actual, cold hard facts straight from the man himself. This was my personal practice for the week: cut through the noise and get the exact quotes.
The Trigger: Why I Had to Shut Down the Noise
I was sitting with my brother-in-law the other week, just shooting the breeze, watching some old highlights of the last World Cup. He suddenly gets all serious and blurted out, “Yeah, he’s already said he’s done, man. It’s finished. He told some sports reporter he just doesn’t have it in him for another cycle.”
I pushed back, because that sounded like a load of nonsense. I’ve been following the guy for decades; he doesn’t usually talk like that. But my brother-in-law was adamant. He said he read it on a major sports site. I realized right there that the general public is drowning in poor translations and lazy journalism. I basically told him, “You wait right there, mate. I’m going to spend the next few days tracking down the original audio, translating it myself if I have to, and I will show you the exact words he used.” That was the starting gun for this whole thing.
The Practice Begins: Diving Into the Media Swamp
My first move was simple: Google. I was optimistic for about ten minutes. It was a disaster. It was like everyone just reads the same generic English-language headline—“Messi casts doubt on 2026”—and then writes the same article with the same three quotes that were maybe pulled from a context-less interview six months ago. The articles contradict each other. I was getting nowhere.
I knew I had to ditch the big international English-speaking news sites. They’re slow and rely on wires. I figured, where does he actually talk when he’s not doing a massive corporate sponsorship deal? He speaks Spanish, obviously. That’s where I started to pivot hard.
I shifted my entire search parameter to focus on South American media outlets—specifically Argentine ones like Clarín and Olé, and then I added some key phrases in Spanish like “2026 interview” and “selection.”
Finding the Source: The Key Action Steps
This is where the real work started. I wasn’t looking for articles anymore; I was looking for transcripts or, even better, video clips from press conferences or post-match mix zones. This took hours. I had to filter out every piece of clickbait and every Twitter thread and focus on media published right after national team windows or big club matches, because those are the only times he talks openly.
This led me to an interview, I won’t say where, but it was with a well-known Argentine journalist in late 2024. The context was key: they were talking about how happy he was playing, not specifically about the next World Cup. I watched the clip maybe four times, paying close attention to the pause and the tone. Then I got the transcript and translated the core segments line-by-line back into the English I wanted to use, making sure no nuance was lost. It’s a lot trickier than just using a basic translation tool because those miss the feeling of the quote.
I compared the new, raw quotes I found to the ones I saw in the big articles. Guess what? They were subtly, but significantly, different. The English translations were all making definitive statements when the Spanish was clearly more cautious and open-ended. I had achieved my goal: I had the exact, verified quotes.
The Final Record: What The Main Man Actually Said
What I learned is that everything you read is a stretch or a hope. My final recorded quotes tell a much clearer, less dramatic story. Here is the distilled record of what he communicated, repeatedly:
- He is not ruling anything out. He said he still loves playing, and as long as he’s enjoying it and the body holds up, he’ll be there.
- He is prioritizing his fitness above everything else. He stressed that the physical demands are different now, and he needs to take it “year by year, month by month.”
- The decision is not his alone. He made it clear that the coach and the team dynamic matter a lot, stating that he doesn’t want to play just because he’s Messi; he wants to play because he can actually contribute.
- The exact quote I finally settled on was basically: “Right now, I only think about the next game. I’ll see what happens later. When the moment comes, I will choose.” That “choose” part is crucial—it means he will make the final call based on his ability, not just following a timeline.
I went back to my brother-in-law, showed him the original Spanish transcript and my verification process. He was shocked. It took me a solid effort of chasing down primary sources instead of relying on the garbage that floats around online, but I realized the true nature of the story: it’s not an answer of “yes” or “no.” It’s an answer of “maybe,” and that “maybe” is based purely on his physical reality, not some drama-filled retirement announcement. This whole practice taught me to never trust the headline; you have to find the voice itself.
