FIFA regulations have blocked Argentina’s plan to retire Lionel Messi’s iconic No. 10 shirt after the forward’s expected farewell from international football.
The Argentine Football Association wanted to permanently withdraw the number from use as a tribute to Messi, who has worn the No. 10 shirt for much of his international career. However, FIFA’s squad-numbering rules require teams competing in major international tournaments to assign shirt numbers within the prescribed range.
That means Argentina cannot simply leave the No. 10 shirt unused in competitions such as the World Cup when tournament regulations require every number in the applicable squad range to be assigned. The rule effectively prevents the Argentine federation from retiring Messi’s number in the traditional sense.
Messi announced on August 31 that he would retire from international football after more than two decades representing Argentina. The 39-year-old forward is expected to make his farewell appearance in front of the Argentine public on October 6, when Argentina faces Benin in a friendly at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
The planned farewell comes after a remarkable international career in which Messi became one of Argentina’s most important players and the long-time wearer of the No. 10 shirt. He has made 207 appearances for the national team and scored 125 goals.
For Argentina, retiring the shirt would have been a symbolic way to mark Messi’s contribution to the national team. But FIFA’s competition regulations take precedence when the team enters tournaments governed by the organisation.
As a result, the No. 10 shirt could remain part of Argentina’s squad numbering even after Messi’s international career ends, despite the federation’s desire to preserve the number as a permanent tribute to its most celebrated modern player.
