Lionel Messi may continue to play for Argentina after the World Cup tragedy

Argentina’s players returned home to a hero’s welcome last night, although the talk was about one man who wasn’t there: Lionel Messi.

Messi remained in the United States following Sunday’s World Cup final defeat by Spain in New Jersey, then flew home to Miami rather than join his teammates on a charter flight back to Buenos Aires.

The 39-year-old is expected to spend a few days in South Florida before returning to his hometown of Rosario to see his father Jorge, who has been suffering from an undisclosed illness.

Messi must decide whether to continue playing for Argentina after another remarkable World Cup in which he scored eight goals and added four assists in eight games to fuel Argentina’s run to the finals.

Reports from his country indicate that Messi, who has scored 125 goals in 207 games, has played the last World Cup but is determined to play until the 2028 Copa America, a tournament that is scheduled to be hosted by Ecuador but may be moved to the USA.

Argentina does not have to qualify for the 2030 World Cup as one of the six hosts and CONMEBOL could use a new structure similar to the European Union to decide which other teams advance.

Messi – I hold on to all the good things

Messi’s disappointment when he lost to Spain was seen at the time when he burst into tears. He took to Instagram last night to thank Argentina fans for their support.

He wrote: “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the greetings and messages.

“The pain is great and this wound will take time to heal, we were once again able to unite as a country and stand together, sharing great pride in being Argentine.

“It’s hard to appreciate our success right now, but this team has reached two consecutive World Cup finals.

“I also hold on to all the good things. The games we turned around by giving everything – moments that will stay in our memories forever – and the support of the whole country combined with the hard work and effort of this team, put us back among the world champions again.

“I also want to congratulate Spain for winning the title.”

Messi could continue under a new manager if Scaloni leaves

Messi’s future is thought to be unrelated to that of Argentina’s coach, Lionel Scaloni, who revealed yesterday that he will leave the team when his contract expires in December.

He said: “I’ll be here until December, and maybe I’ll quit.

“In fact, I feel the need to think because I don’t know if we will be able to do something as big as this, we may have to talk, I thank the president of AFA for giving me this opportunity, to be in the place I am, which is everyone’s dream.

“We tried until the last minute to do everything we could, the coaching staff and the players, I think I’m just giving myself time to think.

“This place is very beautiful, in order to continue we need many things, we need to reset, we need to build a team like this which is difficult to establish again, it hurts my soul, I’m sorry.”

Scloni was front and center when the Argentina team arrived home last night and was treated to an open bus parade from the airport with thousands of fans lining the streets to applaud their efforts.