{"id":817959,"date":"2026-07-22T05:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T05:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817959\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T05:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T05:47:13","slug":"lionel-messi-and-his-family-return-to-argentina-on-a-quiet-fan-free-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817959\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi and his family return to Argentina on a quiet, fan-free flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two days after the end of the 2026 World Cup, Lionel Messi\u00a0and his family returned to Argentina. Heading back to his hometown of Rosario wasn\u2019t how he\u2019d imagined it. Unlike the last tournament, this time their arrival was marked by the shadow of defeat against Spain<\/a> in one of the most highly anticipated finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Argentina\u2019s No. 10<\/a> chose to travel in the early hours, without crowds or celebrations, opting for a discreet trip home, with only a few fans nearby hoping to thank him for everything he gave on the field, though they never got the chance to greet him.<\/p>\n

\"Messi\u00a9 ZUMA Press, Inc.Messi appeared emotional after the match <\/p>\n

You may also likeContinue reading<\/p>\n

Around 6:30 a.m. local time, Lionel and his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo<\/a>, landed in Argentina with their sons Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro, who had been in the stands cheering on their dad in his \u201clast dance.\u201d Messi did not fly back to Argentina with the rest of the team, which on Monday afternoon was welcomed at the airport by a huge crowd of fans applauding their arrival, many wearing the albiceleste jerseys and chanting for every member of the squad.<\/p>\n

\"Antonela\u00a9 IG: @antonelaroccuzzoAntonela Roccuzzo and her sons, Thiago, Mateo and Ciro; supported Lionel Messi and the Argentine National Team<\/p>\n

That night, he got into an SUV with dark-tinted windows that made it impossible to see inside, and headed from the airport to his home in the exclusive town of Fisherton. Messi and his inner circle will stay in Argentina for a few days, where he\u2019ll enjoy a vacation with his wife, kids, and parents before returning to training with Inter Miami. The visit is also a chance to spend time with his father, Jorge, who was hospitalized just over a month ago, right as the World Cup was kicking off. Fortunately, he was discharged, but he was not in the stands and instead supported his son and the team from home.<\/p>\n

\"Head\u00a9 Marcelo EndelliHead coach Lionel Scaloni, players and staff of Argentina greet fans as they arrive at Predio Lionel Andres Messi after losing the FIFA World Cup 2026 final against Spain, on July 20, 2026 in Ezeiza, Argentina
\nLionel Messi\u2019s message after taking second place at the 2026 World Cup<\/p>\n

On Sunday afternoon, after the final whistle blew and Spain was crowned champion, Lionel Messi took a few moments to look around New Jersey Stadium in New York, packed with Argentine and Spanish fans. The captain sat down on the grass, fighting back tears and locking in his memory the image of his final World Cup match, shutting out much of what was happening around him. After receiving his silver medal, he couldn\u2019t hold back anymore and tears streamed down his cheeks.<\/p>\n

\"Lionel\u00a9 Hector Vivas – FIFALionel Messi #10 of Argentina reacts to Spain’s victory in the World Cup.<\/p>\n

It took Messi almost 24 hours to put those emotions into words. Before flying back to Argentina, he processed what had happened the night before and posted his first message after the final: \u201cThe pain is immense and it\u2019s going to take a lot for this wound to heal. But I\u2019m also left with all the good things\u2026 With the games we turned around by giving everything, which will forever remain in our memories; with the support of an entire country that, together with the work and effort of this group, helped us once again be among the best in the world.\u201d He went on: \u201cRight now it\u2019s hard to appreciate what we\u2019ve achieved, but this group has reached two consecutive World Cup finals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lionel\u00a9 AFP via Getty ImagesLionel Messi says goodbye to Argentina after tearful World Cup loss<\/p>\n

For his devoted fans, he added, \u201cThank you from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and every message. Once again we managed to come together as a country and be united, sharing the immense pride of being Argentine.\u201d And he concluded: \u201cI also want to congratulate Spain on the championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly after his post, Antonela Roccuzzo shared a message for her husband, \u201cYou will always be the best. Not just because of your talent, but because you never stopped being yourself. Because no matter what happens, you never give up, you always fight until the end and give your all until the very last second. That strength, that mentality, and that way you get back up again and again are what make you unique. \ud83e\udd0d\u201d She added: \u201cI admire you more than words can express, and I\u2019m incredibly proud to walk through life by your side. I love you so much \ud83e\udd0d.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lionel\u00a9 @antonelaroccuzzoAntonela Roccuzzo and Lionel Messi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two days after the end of the 2026 World Cup, Lionel Messi\u00a0and his family returned to Argentina. Heading…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[286778,49,48,361,10884,82,13009],"class_list":["post-817959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-antonela-roccuzzo","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-lionel-messi","tag-sports","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817959","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=817959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}