Messi’s No. 10 Cannot Be Retired Under FIFA Rules

Argentina’s plan to permanently retire Lionel Messi’s iconic No. 10 shirt has been blocked by FIFA regulations governing squad numbers at major international tournaments.

The Argentine Football Association, AFA, reportedly wanted to retire the number following Messi’s decision to end his international career after more than two decades with the national team.

Messi, 39, announced on August 31 that he would retire from international football.

The Inter Miami forward is expected to make his farewell appearance before the Argentine public on October 6, when Argentina faces Benin in a friendly at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.

Messi has made 207 international appearances and scored 125 goals for Argentina. He has worn the No. 10 shirt for much of his international career and has become inseparable from the number during his time with the national team.

However, FIFA regulations require teams competing in international final tournaments to assign squad numbers from 1 to 26.

That means Argentina cannot permanently remove No. 10 from its available squad numbers and still comply with the regulations when competing at tournaments such as the World Cup.

FIFA’s regulations have created a similar problem for Liberia.

Liberia had retired the No. 14 shirt in honour of former striker and president George Weah, but the number subsequently had to be used during the country’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign because of FIFA’s squad-number requirements.

Argentina can, however, leave the No. 10 unused for certain matches outside tournaments. That was effectively the position adopted for Argentina’s recent fixtures, allowing the AFA to continue honouring Messi without permanently removing the number from the squad list.

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has yet to officially decide who will eventually inherit the shirt.

“We are not obliged to assign it for the upcoming matches, so we will give it to no one until after Leo’s farewell match. We just have not yet decided who,” ESPN quoted Scaloni as saying.

However, ESPN Argentina reporter Federico Bueno reported that Como midfielder Nico Paz is the leading candidate to inherit the number if Scaloni remains in charge.

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“If Scaloni extends his contract as Argentina head coach, then Nico Paz will be the new number 10. That has been decided internally,” Bueno said.

Paz, 22, is an attacking midfielder who previously played for Real Madrid before joining Italian club Como permanently for €60 million last summer. He has made 11 appearances for Argentina and scored once.

The immediate issue is therefore not whether Argentina can continue to honour Messi’s contribution, but whether the No. 10 can be permanently removed from its squad numbers under FIFA competition rules.

ValidViewNetwork reports that Argentina can preserve the shirt as a special symbol during selected fixtures, but FIFA’s tournament regulations prevent the country from permanently retiring the number while remaining compliant with the required 1-to-26 squad numbering system.