Argentina football team Captain Lionel Messi will retire after the FIFA World Cup 2022 final that is scheduled to hold on December 18. This was confirmed by the footballer himself after his country reached final after beating Croatia on Tuesday.

Messi was quoted by Argentine media outlet Diario Deportivo Ole saying, “I feel very happy  to be able to achieve this, to finish my World Cup journey by playing my last game in a final.”

“It’s many years for the next one and I don’t think I’ll be able to do it. And to finish like this, it’s the best,” he added.

It may be mentioned that Messia is playing his fifth World Cup, surpassing the four of Diego Maradona and Javier Mascherano. Along with this he also surpassed Gabriel Batistuta with his fifth goal in Qatar as the top Albiceleste scorer at World Cups.

The World Cup in Qatar will be his last chance to lift the trophy before he retires.

“It’s all well and good (the records), but the important thing is to be able to achieve the group objective, which is the most beautiful thing of all. We’re just one step away, after fighting hard, and we’re going to give everything to try to make it happen this time,” he said.

The GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) took his country to the finals by scoring from a penalty and played equally important in the other two goals scored by Julian Alvarez against Croatia on Tuesday. He said that the summit clash will be his last in the sky and white stripes.

The country will either play against France (Group D winners) or Morocco (Group F winners).