10 August 2026
Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, surrounded by family and teammates, is preparing to bid farewell to his father, Jorge, his mentor and agent, who passed away at the age of 68 after a battle with illness.
On Sunday, Lionel arrived in Argentina in a poignant scene to pay his final respects to his steadfast supporter throughout the difficult years of his teenage years in Barcelona.
The father of the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner died overnight Friday-Saturday at a clinic in Rosario. The cause of death has not been released.
The Argentine star arrived on a private plane from the United States, accompanied by his wife, Antonella Roccuzzo, and their children, most of whom were dressed in black, according to AFP at the scene.
After the plane landed at 11:43 PM GMT, according to airport authorities, Messi boarded a van escorted by police vehicles. Jorge Messi's funeral is scheduled for Sunday in a private family ceremony in the town of Perés, near his hometown of Rosario, north of Buenos Aires. Lionel Messi and his family will be in attendance, according to local official sources.
Handwritten messages from fans, including "Stay strong, Leo, we love you" and "Stay strong, Messi family," were displayed at the gates of the El Prado cemetery in the city, along with a large wreath of flowers.
Messi's teammates gathered around their captain after the announcement of Jorge Messi's death on Friday evening at a clinic in Rosario.
"His presence here will certainly make him happy," Boca Juniors midfielder Leandro Paredes told reporters after his team's match on Saturday.
"I need to talk to some of my teammates to see if we'll go now or tomorrow," he added.
According to some media outlets, midfielder Rodrigo De Paul, a close friend of Messi's and teammate at Inter Miami in the United States, will travel to Argentina. After scoring in his team's 2-1 loss to Monterrey in Miami on Saturday, De Paul honored his friend by removing his jersey to reveal Messi's number 10 shirt underneath. His teammates wore black armbands for the remainder of the match.
The Argentine Football Association and FC Barcelona, which welcomed Messi when he was 13, were among the first to offer their condolences.
"FC Barcelona thanks Jorge Messi for his commitment to our club and for the trust he placed in us during the early years and flourishing career of his son Leo," the Catalan club said in a statement.
A pivotal figure
Jorge Messi was a central figure throughout his son's career, serving as his first coach, the father who left everything to accompany him to Spain, and the agent who negotiated lucrative contracts on his behalf.
Jorge worked in the metal industry in Rosario, 340 kilometers north of Buenos Aires, and also oversaw the youth teams at the local club, Grandoli. He was the one who gave the future Argentine captain his first chance to play when he was just four years old, on the dirt pitches of the neighborhoods where Argentine children usually played.
His life changed completely in 2000 when Barcelona invited the rising star, then 13 years old, to move to Catalonia to undergo treatment for growth hormone deficiency, while simultaneously playing for the club's youth teams.
At that point, Jorge left his stable job in Argentina, his wife, and their three other children, and moved to Spain with Lionel.
Later, Jorge secured his son's first contract with Barcelona, becoming his agent and sole representative, first in Barcelona, then in Paris Saint-Germain and Miami.
Messi spoke about his early days in Spain, saying: "When we arrived in Barcelona, I would lock myself in my room and cry alone, and my father would do the same, either without me seeing him or thinking I hadn't seen him. We pretended we were fine, but we were suffering." However, the life of Messi and his father was not without controversy. In 2013, Spanish authorities accused father and son of using a network of companies in Britain, Switzerland, Belize, and Uruguay between 2007 and 2009 to collect income from the footballer's image rights and evade taxes in Spain.
The case was closed in 2017 after millions of dollars in fines were imposed.
In 2019, Jorge and Lionel, along with the Lionel Messi Foundation, faced new charges in Spain related to alleged tax crimes, fraud, and money laundering.
This second case was dropped in 2021.
