FIFA rule stops Argentina from honouring Messi's retiring number ten
Lionel Messi FIFA Rule Blocks Argentina as the 39‑year‑old Argentine icon announced on Monday his retirement from international football, vacating the famed number ten shirt, while FIFA’s regulations prevent the jersey from being permanently retired. The decision follows a heartbreaking period that saw him lose the 2026 World Cup final and his father Jorge, aged 68, within weeks.
Messi originally retired from the national team in 2016, but returned to captain Argentina through the 2026 World Cup, where the side fell short in the final.
FIFA's numbering rule
FIFA mandates that international squads assign numbers consecutively, a policy that forced Argentina to list players from 1 to 26 for the 2026 World Cup, leaving no room to retire a specific jersey.
While clubs can retire numbers – Liverpool withdrew the number 20 after Diogo Jota’s tragic death in 2025 and Napoli retired the number 10 for Diego Maradona – national teams must keep a full sequence, preventing Argentina from doing the same for Messi’s iconic Number ten.
Speculation on the successor
In 2024, Argentina federation president Claudio Tapia pledged that the No. 10 shirt would be retired when Messi ended his career, yet early reports suggest Como forward Nico Paz, a 21‑year‑old product of the Real Madrid academy, could inherit the role.
The piece is credited to REUTERS/Carl Recine By Calum Ritchie PM GMT+1, a GiveMeSport journalist who covers the biggest stories in world sport. He works for Give Me Sport, often shortened to GiveMeSport.
Having taken part in the GiveMeSport Academy in early 2023, Calum joined the team full‑time in June of that year and was promoted to editor shortly afterwards.
He completed a Freelance Journalism course through the British College of Journalism, then produced content for HITC Sport and Read Liverpool, creating news, opinion, features, lists and viral pieces for GMS, and has also reported on boxing, tennis and wrestling.