![\"Cameron\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3cde0a7c-8d4f-4846-91e7-9faf55281dc9_979a73a2.jpg\" "\\"Cameron\u2019s")
Cameron\u2019s Roger Milla (left) is considered the oldest non-goalkeeper to have appeared at a World Cup. Photo: AFP<\/p>\nAfter witnessing what Lionel Messi was still capable of at this summer\u2019s World Cup, the president of \u2060the Argentina Football Association is not rushing \u2060the all-time great out the door.<\/p>\n
Claudio \u201cChiqui\u201d Tapia said in an interview on Argentine TV that Messi was the only person making the decision when to hang up his boots.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a decision that is purely and personally his,\u201d Tapia said, according to a translation. \u201cYou \u200chave to let him relax. In 2022, we didn\u2019t know if he\u2019d play in 2026. He said it was game by game, and I think we\u2019ve seen a great version \u2013 if not the best \u2013 of Leo in a World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to let him keep enjoying playing football and after that he\u2019ll make the decision he feels is the right one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Messi, who turned \u206039 on June 24 \u2013 two days after scoring a brace against Austria in World Cup group-stage play \u2013 has \u200cgiven no indication when he might retire from international football or how much longer he intends to play for Inter Miami in the MLS.<\/p>\n
Cameron\u2019s Roger Milla (left) is considered the oldest non-goalkeeper to have appeared at a World Cup. Photo: AFP<\/p>\n
As Tapia pointed out, the \u200c2026 tournament was no guarantee after Messi led Argentina to the 2022 title over France \u2060in Qatar. But \u2060Messi played some of his best soccer this summer, compiling eight goals and four assists for La Albiceleste.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After witnessing what Lionel Messi was still capable of at this summer\u2019s World Cup, the president of \u2060the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[9877,261630,8247,261628,17558,19712,2226,85,54341,46,19684,261631,54038,261629,106390,17673,2727,105],"class_list":["post-578661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-argentina","tag-argentina-football-association","tag-austria","tag-claudio-chiqui-tapia","tag-cristiano-ronaldo","tag-fifa","tag-france","tag-il","tag-inter-miami","tag-israel","tag-kylian-mbappe","tag-la-albiceleste","tag-lionel-messi","tag-miroslav-klose","tag-mls","tag-portugal","tag-spain","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}