Lionel Messi has decided to step away from international football following Argentina's friendly against Benin this month.
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) must now decide how to permanently honour arguably the greatest player in their nation's history.
AFA president Claudio Tapia has previously expressed a desire to retire the iconic No. 10 shirt but FIFA's strict tournament regulations make that virtually impossible.
Why can't Argentina retire Lionel Messi's No. 10 shirt?
Under current FIFA rules, national teams are prohibited from retiring shirt numbers during international competitions such as the World Cup, Copa America and the European Championship.
Regulations state that tournament squads must use an unbroken sequence of numbers, usually ranging from 1 up to the maximum squad size, such as 1 to 26, leaving no available digits or numerical gaps.
How Argentina can still retire Messi's shirt
This rule exists primarily for administrative reasons as, supposedly, consecutive numbering allows referees, officials, and automated broadcast tracking systems to better log substitutions, goals, VAR checks, and disciplinary actions.
Argentina are already well aware of FIFA’s inflexibility because ahead of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, the AFA attempted to retire the No. 10 shirt in honour of Diego Maradona. FIFA rejected the request, forcing Argentina to assign the number which was eventually handed to Ariel Ortega for the tournament.
However, a workaround does exist. Argentina could, in theory, still pay tribute to Messi outside competitive tournaments. National federations have greater flexibility when it comes to unofficial friendly matches.
In non-competitive fixtures, associations are allowed to leave iconic shirts entirely off the matchday squad list. That means the AFA can theoretically circumvent FIFA's numbering regulations during friendly windows, allowing Argentina to compete without a numbered No. 10 shirt on the pitch, or in the squad.
When competitive tournaments roll around, someone will be required to wear the shirt. But during friendlies, Argentina can ensure Messi's famous number remains untouched whenever circumstances allow.
