{"id":817041,"date":"2026-07-21T20:08:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817041\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T20:08:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:08:29","slug":"messi-returns-to-argentina-after-world-cup-final-loss-to-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817041\/","title":{"rendered":"Messi returns to Argentina after World Cup final loss to Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Lionel Messi is expected to rejoin Inter Miami in late July or early August for the ongoing MLS season.Stephanie Scarbrough\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Lionel Messi arrived back in Argentina on Tuesday for a few days of rest following the World Cup final loss to Spain.<\/p>\n

Messi\u2019s private jet landed near his hometown of Rosario from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at 6:27 a.m. Although many fans were waiting with signs and flags, he did not make a public appearance. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe pain is immense, and this wound will take time to heal,\u201d he posted on his Instagram account. \u201cI cherish all the good moments, memories that will last forever\u2013and the support of an entire nation which, combined with this group\u2019s hard work and effort, propelled us once again into the ranks of the world\u2019s best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters only caught a brief glimpse of the SUV that met Messi on the tarmac to transport him and his family to the private neighbourhood of Funes, roughly 300 kilometres north of Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n

Opinion: Messi\u2019s near-perfect World Cup has him as close to the top as he can get. There\u2019s no better time to retire<\/a><\/p>\n

The Argentina captain reportedly travelled with his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, and their three children, all of whom had accompanied him throughout the tournament in North America. Waiting for him in Rosario was his 68-year-old father, Jorge, whose ongoing medical treatment for an undisclosed illness had been disclosed by the family during the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Fans had gathered at the airport as early as 3:30 a.m. hoping to catch a sight of the star. Among them were two young girls in Albiceleste jerseys holding welcome signs, one of which read: \u201cMessi: You\u2019re a legend. Thank you for bringing joy to our hearts. A whole country loves you!\u201d<\/p>\n

Messi is expected to rejoin Inter Miami in late July or early August for the ongoing MLS season.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

An Argentina fan wrapped in a flag bearing an image of Lionel Messi gathers outside the Argentine Football Association headquarters while waiting for the national team to arrive in Ezeiza, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Monday.Rodrigo Abd\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Fifteen members of Argentina\u2019s 26-player World Cup roster, led by head coach Lionel Scaloni, landed at Buenos Aires\u2019 Ezeiza Airport on Monday on a chartered flight.<\/p>\n

The squad\u2019s arrival follows Sunday\u2019s 1\u20130 extra-time loss to Spain in the World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, decided by a Ferran Torres goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is hard to fully appreciate our achievement right now, but this group reached two consecutive World Cup finals. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and message,\u201d Messi added. \u201cI also want to congratulate Spain on winning the championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The match marked Messi\u2019s third World Cup final appearance following 2014 and 2022. He ended the tournament as the runner-up for the Golden Boot with eight goals, two behind France\u2019s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Mbapp\u00e9 tops the all-time World Cup goalscoring chart with 22, one more than Messi. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Lionel Messi is expected to rejoin Inter Miami in late July or early…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,561,82,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-817041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=817041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}